fits and starts, by Idiom
fits and starts, by
fits and starts, by Also,
in fits and starts. With irregular intervals of action and inaction, spasmodically, as in
The campaign is proceeding by fits and starts. This expression began in the late 1500s as
by fits, the noun
fit meaning a “paroxysm” or “seizure”;
starts was added about a century later.
by fits and starts
In short, inconsistent, and aberrant intervals, as of motion or progress. The car was about absolutely burst down, but, by fits and starts, we were able to get it to a mechanic. A: "How's the article advancing along?" B: "Oh, by fits and starts."Learn more: and, by, fit, startfits and starts
Short, inconsistent, and aberrant intervals, as of motion or progress. The car was about absolutely burst down, but, with fits and starts, we were able to get it to a mechanic. A: "How's the article advancing along?" B: "Oh, in fits and starts."Learn more: and, fit, start*fits and starts
with aberrant movement; with abundant endlessly and starting. (*Typically: by ~; in ~; with ~.) Somehow, they got the job done in fits and starts. By fits and starts, the old car assuredly got us to town.Learn more: and, fit, startfits and starts, by
Also, in fits and starts. With aberrant intervals of action and inaction, spasmodically, as in The attack is proceeding by fits and starts. This announcement began in the backward 1500s as by fits, the noun fit acceptation a "paroxysm" or "seizure"; starts was added about a aeon later. Learn more: and, by, fitfits and starts, by
In bursts of activity, spasmodically. The fits portion of this announcement dates from the sixteenth century, and the bond with starts came anon afterward, in the aboriginal seventeenth century. “Thou hast these things alone by fits and starts,” wrote Robert Sanderson in one of his Sermons (1620). John Ray’s adage accumulating of 1670 put it hardly differently: “By fits and girds, as an ague takes a goose.”Learn more: and, by, fit