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periodically

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
pe·ri·od·ic  (pîr-dk)
adj.
1. Having or marked by repeated cycles.
2. Happening or appearing at regular intervals.
3. Recurring or reappearing from time to time; intermittent.
4. Characterized by periodic sentences.

peri·odi·cal·ly adv.
Synonyms: periodic, sporadic, intermittent, occasional, fitful
These adjectives all mean recurring or reappearing now and then. Something periodic occurs at regular or at least generally predictable intervals: periodic feelings of anxiety.
Sporadic implies scattered, irregular, unpredictable, or isolated instances: sporadic bombing raids.
Intermittent describes something that stops and starts at intervals: intermittent rain showers.
What is occasional happens at random and irregularly: occasional outbursts of temper.
Something fitful occurs in spells and often abruptly: fitful bursts of energy.
Usage Note: In technical use, periodic means "at regular or predictable intervals," as in the Periodic Table of the Elements. Often, however, periodic is used to mean "occasional, intermittent." This usage can be confusing for readers who are accustomed to the narrower sense of the word. Thus the writer who says Parker's losses at the track were not covered by his periodic wins invites the (most likely unintended) inference that Parker has a system that enables him to win at regular intervals. The ambiguity can be avoided here by using occasional instead.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adv.1.periodically - in a sporadic manner; "he only works sporadically"
Translations
periodically [ˌpɪerɪˈɒdɪkəlɪ] ADV (= at regular intervals) → periódicamente; (= from time to time) → cada cierto tiempo, de vez en cuando
periodically [ˌpɪəriˈɒdɪkəli] advpériodiquement
periodic table nclassification f périodique des éléments
period pain ndouleurs fpl menstruelles
period pains npldouleurs fpl menstruelles
period piece n (= play, book, film) → œuvre f historique
periodically
advperiodisch; (= regularly also)regelmäßig
periodically [ˌpɪərɪˈɒdɪklɪ] advperiodicamente
periodically [ˌpɪərɪˈɒdɪklɪ] advperiodicamente


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The following pages were written more than twenty years since, and were then published periodically in
Their dismal shores are studded thickly with scaffold-like, enormous timber structures, whose lofty heads are veiled periodically by the infernal gritty night of a cloud of coal-dust.
For there and then, for several consecutive years, Moby Dick had been periodically descried, lingering in those waters for awhile, as the sun, in its annual round, loiters for a predicted interval in any one sign of the Zodiac.
 
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