fits and starts
CulturalExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His speaking cadence mirrors his singing style, going in fits and starts, spilling out a series of thought fragments that somehow end up magically fitting together.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
There have been fits and starts of ambitious defense measures.
From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026
The affordability tour has only happened in fits and starts, however, and the president has not always stuck to the script.
From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026
After a courtship that unfurled in fits and starts, they married in 1996.
From Salon • Feb. 12, 2026
They go in fits and starts, stopping so many times the rest of the Spec is forced to continue around them, parting like water around a stone.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
