verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of intermit
1535–45; < Latin intermittere to leave a space between, drop (for a while), leave off, equivalent to inter- inter- + mittere to send, let go
Explanation
To intermit is to stop doing something for a while. You might intermit your Spanish classes this summer so you can take a full-time job as a lifeguard. Intermit is a formal or old-fashioned way to say "pause," or sometimes "pause periodically." It's much more common to use the adjective intermittent for things that start and stop, and both words come from the Latin inter, "between," and mittere, "to send." If you regularly intermit your dog training sessions, it's going to take a lot longer to teach Spot to heel!
Vocabulary lists containing intermit
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
With the cold war's intermit tent crises no longer seeming so momentous, one eye of U.S. foreign policy has shifted to the long view.
From Time Magazine Archive
Though Franklin took every thing by the smooth handle, he did not, on that account, intermit any intensity of labor to accomplish his purposes.
From Benjamin Franklin A Picture of the Struggles of Our Infant Nation One Hundred Years Ago American Pioneers and Patriots Series by John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
There was no answer and no intermit to the sobs and tears she was pouring on my letter.
From Woven with the Ship A Novel of 1865 by Cyrus Townsend Brady
Let Euclid rest, and Archimedes pause: intermit for a day your severe mathematical studies.
From Minor Poems by Milton by John Milton
He could intermit the action of a Parliament for a time, sending the members to their homes until he should summon them again.
From Charles I Makers of History by Jacob Abbott
The frog chirped again from the trees, and the far-off owl hooted in the wood, resuming his melancholy song, that had been so briefly intermitted.
From Horse-Shoe Robinson A Tale of the Tory Ascendency by John Pendleton Kennedy
The rain, which had never intermitted, fell with dismal hopelessness.
From Checkers A Hard-luck Story by Henry M. Blossom
His breath, which had kept pace with the quick beating of his heart, intermitted, hesitated, was lost!
From Gabriel Conroy by Bert Harte
Moreover, the contact of her head with mine made me suffer so much that I am absolutely sure it was not intermitted for a single moment.
From Mysterious Psychic Forces An Account of the Author's Investigations in Psychical Research, Together with Those of Other European Savants by Camille Flammarion
His days of "literary loafing" allowed him to enjoy the pleasures of friendship which during his periods of work were necessarily, to some extent, intermitted.
From William Hickling Prescott by Harry Thurston Peck
Mrs Ndisang said "no reason was given" as to why intermission was refused "but it was very clear intermitting was not an option".
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2023
Some little scalding of urine; flow not so free and full, intermitting slightly, as if I had some calculus in the bladder which interfered with continuous flow.
From New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers by Edward Pollock Anshutz
The disorderly troubles of the land," says his son of him, "being then far advanced, though otherways he disliked them, were a kind of refreshment to him, and intermitting relaxation from a more stinging disquietnesse.
From Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromartie, Knight by John Willcock
But whenever the intermitting Fever is simple and uncombined, it ever has, and ever will render the Patient all possible Service.
From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David) Tissot
The intermitting of Three Hours should be most naturally read as suggesting that at least in the judgment of the managers its initial vogue had passed.
From Three Hours after Marriage by John Arbuthnot
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