in fits and starts
US /ɪn fɪts ænd stɑrts/
・UK /ɪn fɪts ænd stɑ:ts/
B2
adv. phr.Happening intermittently or irregularly.
He worked on his project in fits and starts over the year.
Video subtitles
President Obama Delivers the Rutgers University Commencement Address
- It zigs and zags in fits and starts.
It zigs and zags in fits and starts.
President Obama Re-Elected for Second Term
- As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts.
As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts.
- As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts.
As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts.
PBS News Hour full episode, June 24, 2026
- so do we, as a country, as over the course of generations, we have lived up to the promise in fits and starts.
so do we, as a country, as over the course of generations, we have lived up to the promise in fits and starts.
- So, it's a sentence that keeps pushing us forward, even though our progress comes in fits and starts.
So, it's a sentence that keeps pushing us forward, even though our progress comes in fits and starts.
Top 30 WORST Decisions in Sports History
- Legal battles and backroom deals have kept the project alive in fits and starts, with renewed pushes surfacing even in 2025.
Legal battles and backroom deals have kept the project alive in fits and starts, with renewed pushes surfacing even in 2025.
Walter Isaacson on what he calls 'The Greatest Sentence Ever Written'
- so do we, as a country, as over the course of generations, we have lived up to the promise in fits and starts.
so do we, as a country, as over the course of generations, we have lived up to the promise in fits and starts.
- So it's a sentence that keeps pushing us forward, even though our progress comes in fits and starts.
So it's a sentence that keeps pushing us forward, even though our progress comes in fits and starts.
Ben Wikler and Geoff Bennett discuss the Democrats’ plan on 'Settle In'
- And the circle of freedom kept expanding in fits and starts and contractions sometimes.
And the circle of freedom kept expanding in fits and starts and contractions sometimes.
PBS News Hour full episode, July 23, 2026
- And the circle of freedom kept expanding in fits and starts and contractions sometimes.
And the circle of freedom kept expanding in fits and starts and contractions sometimes.
A former Democratic Party chair’s plan to save democracy
- And the circle of freedom kept expanding in fits and starts and contractions sometimes.
And the circle of freedom kept expanding in fits and starts and contractions sometimes.
Is Cuba waging a secret campaign against the US? | The Global Story
- But on the foreign policy front, you know, the administration has been building a case in fits and starts over the, you know, the last few months about Cuba's national security threat in a way that would perhaps tee up some kind of military operation, right?
But on the foreign policy front, you know, the administration has been building a case in fits and starts over the, you know, the last few months about Cuba's national security threat in a way that would perhaps tee up some kind of military operation, right?