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What does fits and starts mean?
Do you have to do it in fits and starts?
When did the phrase 'by fits and starts' come out?
Learn the meaning of the idiom in/by fits and starts, which means something happens irregularly or intermittently. See examples, synonyms, translations and related words.
Fits and starts is an idiom that means periods of activity mixed with periods when nothing happens. Learn more about its usage and examples from the Cambridge Dictionary.
To do something in “fits and starts” is to do it intermittently or sporadically: “Martina has been working on her master's thesis in fits and starts; she needs to work on it consistently.”
fits and starts, by. In bursts of activity, spasmodically. The fits portion of this expression dates from the sixteenth century, and the pairing with starts came soon afterward, in the early seventeenth century. “Thou hast these things only by fits and starts,” wrote Robert Sanderson in one of his Sermons (1620).
Learn the meaning and usage of the phrase "fits and starts", which means short, inconsistent, and irregular intervals, as of motion or progress. See examples, synonyms, and related expressions from various sources.
a. : acceptable from a particular viewpoint (as of competence or morality) : proper. a movie fit for the whole family. b (1) : adapted to an end or design : suitable by nature or by art. found him to be a fit officer and gentleman Time. (2) : adapted to the environment so as to be capable of surviving. 2. : sound physically and mentally : healthy.
Fits and starts means spasmodically or at irregular intervals. It comes from the 17th century meaning of 'fit' as a sudden state of activity or mind.
