intermittent

Use in a sentence

in·ter·mit·tent

[in-ter-mit-nt]
adjective
1.
stopping or ceasing for a time; alternately ceasing and beginning again: an intermittent pain.
2.
alternately functioning and not functioning or alternately functioning properly and improperly.
3.
(of streams, lakes, or springs) recurrent; showing water only part of the time.

Origin:
1595–1605; < Latin intermittent- (stem of intermittēns) present participle of intermittere to intermit; see -ent

in·ter·mit·tence, in·ter·mit·ten·cy, noun
in·ter·mit·tent·ly, adverb
non·in·ter·mit·tence, noun
non·in·ter·mit·tent, adjective
non·in·ter·mit·tent·ly, adverb
non·in·ter·mit·tent·ness, noun
un·in·ter·mit·tent, adjective
un·in·ter·mit·tent·ly, adverb

continual, continuous, intermittent (see usage note at continual).


1. interrupted, sporadic.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
intermittent (ˌɪntəˈmɪtənt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
occurring occasionally or at regular or irregular intervals; periodic
 
inter'mittence
 
n
 
inter'mittency
 
n
 
inter'mittently
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

intermittent
c.1600, from L. intermittentem (nom. intermittens), prp. of intermittere (see intermission).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

intermittent in·ter·mit·tent (ĭn'tər-mĭt'nt)
adj.

  1. Stopping and starting at intervals.

  2. Marked by intervals of complete quietude occurring between two periods of activity.


in'ter·mit'tence n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Example sentences
Their friendship, intermittent over the years, was based on self-interest
  rather than on intimacy.
What is less obvious is that nuclear electricity is also intermittent though
  for different reasons.
The rattle is intermittent, never on the highway and worse on bumpy roads.
Thunder rolled with menacing crashes up the valley and scattered through the
  woods in intermittent batteries.
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