on occasion

oc·ca·sion  (-kzhn)

n.

1.

a. An event or happening; an incident.

b. The time at which an event occurs.

2. A significant event.

3. A favorable or appropriate time or juncture; an opportunity. See Synonyms at opportunity.

4. Something that brings on or precipitates an action, condition, or event, especially the immediate cause. See Synonyms at cause.

5. Something that provides a reason or justification; a ground.

6. A need created by a particular circumstance: "He must buy what he has little occasion for" Laurence Sterne.

7. A large or important social gathering.

8. occasions Archaic Personal requirements or necessities.

tr.v. oc·ca·sioned, oc·ca·sion·ing, oc·ca·sions

To provide occasion for; cause: "The year's annual reports occasion an especially revealing glimpse of how corporations lend . . . embellishment to the stark numbers of the comptroller's office" Mark Muro.

Idiom:

on occasion

From time to time; now and then.

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[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin occsi, occsin-, from occsus, past participle of occidere, to fall : ob-, down; see ob- + cadere, to fall; see kad- in Indo-European roots.]

Thesaurus

Adv.

1.

on occasion - now and then or here and there; "he was arrogant and occasionally callous"; "open areas are only occasionally interrupted by clumps of trees"; "they visit New York on occasion"; "now and again she would take her favorite book from the shelf and read to us"; "as we drove along, the beautiful scenery now and then attracted his attention" at times, from time to time, now and again, now and then, occasionally, once in a while