'Now and then' definitions:

Definition of 'now and then'

From: WordNet
adverb
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" [syn: occasionally, on occasion, once in a while, now and then, now and again, at times, from time to time]

Definition of 'Now and then'

From: GCIDE
  • Then \Then\ ([th][e^]n), adv. [Originally the same word as than. See Than.]
  • 1. At that time (referring to a time specified, either past or future). [1913 Webster]
  • And the Canaanite was then in the land. --Gen. xii. 6. [1913 Webster]
  • Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. --1 Cor. xiii. 12. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Soon afterward, or immediately; next; afterward. [1913 Webster]
  • First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. --Matt. v. 24. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. At another time; later; again. [1913 Webster]
  • One while the master is not aware of what is done, and then in other cases it may fall out to be own act. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster]
  • By then. (a) By that time. (b) By the time that. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • But that opinion, I trust, by then this following argument hath been well read, will be left for one of the mysteries of an indulgent Antichrist. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Now and then. See under Now, adv.
  • Till then, until that time; until the time mentioned. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Then is often used elliptically, like an adjective, for then existing; as, the then administration. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Now and then'

From: GCIDE
  • Now \Now\ (nou), adv. [OE. nou, nu, AS. n[=u], nu; akin to D., OS., & OHG. nu, G. nu, nun, Icel., n[=u], Dan., Sw., & Goth. nu, L. nunc, Gr. ny`, ny^n, Skr. nu, n[=u]. [root]193. Cf. New.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. At the present time; at this moment; at the time of speaking; instantly; as, I will write now. [1913 Webster]
  • I have a patient now living, at an advanced age, who discharged blood from his lungs thirty years ago. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Very lately; not long ago. [1913 Webster]
  • They that but now, for honor and for plate, Made the sea blush with blood, resign their hate. --Waller. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. At a time contemporaneous with something spoken of or contemplated; at a particular time referred to. [1913 Webster]
  • The ship was now in the midst of the sea. --Matt. xiv. 24. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. In present circumstances; things being as they are; -- hence, used as a connective particle, to introduce an inference or an explanation. [1913 Webster]
  • How shall any man distinguish now betwixt a parasite and a man of honor? --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster]
  • Why should he live, now nature bankrupt is? --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now, Barabbas was a robber. --John xviii. 40. [1913 Webster]
  • The other great and undoing mischief which befalls men is, by their being misrepresented. Now, by calling evil good, a man is misrepresented to others in the way of slander. --South. [1913 Webster]
  • Now and again, now and then; occasionally.
  • Now and now, again and again; repeatedly. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
  • Now and then, at one time and another; indefinitely; occasionally; not often; at intervals. "A mead here, there a heath, and now and then a wood." --Drayton.
  • Now now, at this very instant; precisely now. [Obs.] "Why, even now now, at holding up of this finger, and before the turning down of this." --J. Webster (1607).
  • Now . . . now, alternately; at one time . . . at another time. "Now high, now low, now master up, now miss." --Pope. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'now and then'

From: Moby Thesaurus