off and on

Idioms  

1. Also, on and off.

2. 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]

3. 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]

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Example Sentences

I know people are chapped about start/stop systems, which cycle engines off and on when the vehicle is not moving, in order to save fuel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 11, 2025

But interventions then dropped off, and on the UK side there seems to be surprise that it has taken so long to resolve the problems Retailleau had already identified and said he would fix.

From BBC • Nov. 28, 2025

Tensions off and on the field have been high since a deadly military clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.

From Barron's • Nov. 16, 2025

She walked over to her dresser, the top of which held a few small glass sculptures of dolphins with iridescent eyes that she had been collecting off and on for more than a decade.

From Slate • Nov. 15, 2025

Trevor took his phone out and started playing his Mario game as the train stopped back at Davis Square, then at Porter Station, where some people got off and on.

From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks