off and on
Idioms-
Also, on and off.
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Intermittently, from time to time. For example, I read his column off and on , or We've been working on the garden all summer, on and off . [Early 1500s]
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Also, off again, on again ; on again, off again . Uncertain, vacillating, as in Theirs is an off again, on again relationship , or The peace talks are on again, off again . Some believe this term originally referred to minor railroad accidents, where a train went off track and then on again. [Mid-1800s]
Vocabulary lists containing off-and-on
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.
Because it’s liquid-fueled, “you can deep throttle it, you can turn it way down, you can turn it off, you can turn off and on an infinite number of times.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 14, 2026
Hockney painted the palm trees, modern houses and swimming pools of Los Angeles and Santa Monica, falling in love with a region where he would live off and on for more than five decades.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Resetting the heart "is like switching a computer off and on again", he explains, adding that ICDs are "highly effective devices".
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
Both off and on the festival grounds, these brands host a series of parties, pop-ups and other VIP events that lavish celebrities, influencers and artists with premium experiences.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
The doctors tell Theo that Vincent has been agitated off and on, has “been showing symptoms of that most dreadful illness, of madness.”
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
