on and off

2 (also off and on)REGULAR for short periods but not regularly over a long period of time 断断续续地，间歇地

He’s been smoking for ten years now, on and off.

到现在，他断断续续地吸烟有十年了。

Examples from the Corpus

on and off• It rained off and on for the whole afternoon.• A large blue diamond was flashing on and off.• After she had left the office, Wyatt sat and listened to the ventilator go on and off.• After studying accountancy at Chicago University, he worked on and off as an investment analyst.• My husband has suffered from heartburn on and off for years and has recently been diagnosed as having a hiatus hernia.• With the other type switch on and off is non-automatic.• Then we went for a walk, with him continually flying on and off my shoulder.• There are thousands of tax-paying jobs generated on and off the reservation.• The spokeswoman says Disney has 50 to 70 toll-free numbers, which it turns on and off to coincide with special promotions.

→ on and off at on2(2)

on and offChinese