1 (also on and off)REGULAR for short periods but not regularly, over a long period of time 断断续续地,时有时无地
We’ve been going out together for five years, off and on.
我们断断续续交往了五年。
Examples from the Corpus
off and on• Baltimore was foreignoff and on.• He dozedoff and on but had no understanding of deepersleep.• He's lived in the King Edward off and on for 30 years.• And friendship with Clan Diarmaid, that we've been fightingoff and on for five generations!• Rachel and Alan have been datingoff and on for five years.• Even so, I thought about this man off and on for most of the week.• Beck and Phil Woods, both virtuosi, have played together off and on for years, and their rapport is magical.• We've been together ever since, off and on, helping each other out.• The lights flickeroff and on, off and on, the signal that the library is about to close.