now and again
 不時地,經常;有時,偶爾


 A·gain adv.
 1. In return, back; as, bring us word again.
 2. Another time; once more; anew.
    If a man die, shall he live again?   --Job xiv. 14.
 3. Once repeated; -- of quantity; as, as large again, half as much again.
 4. In any other place. [Archaic]
 5. On the other hand. “The one is my sovereign . . . the other again is my kinsman.”
 6. Moreover; besides; further.
    Again, it is of great consequence to avoid, etc.   --Herschel.
 Again and again, more than once; often; repeatedly.
 Now and again, now and then; occasionally.
 To and again, to and fro. [Obs.] --De Foe.
 Note: ☞ Again was formerly used in many verbal combinations, as, again-witness, to witness against; again-ride, to ride against; again-come, to come against, to encounter; again-bring, to bring back, etc.

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 Now adv.
 1. At the present time; at this moment; at the time of speaking; instantly; as, I will write now.
    I have a patient now living, at an advanced age, who discharged blood from his lungs thirty years ago.   --Arbuthnot.
 2. Very lately; not long ago.
 They that but now, for honor and for plate,
 Made the sea blush with blood, resign their hate.   --Waller.
 3. At a time contemporaneous with something spoken of or contemplated; at a particular time referred to.
    The ship was now in the midst of the sea.   --Matt. xiv. 24.
 4. In present circumstances; things being as they are; -- hence, used as a connective particle, to introduce an inference or an explanation.
    How shall any man distinguish now betwixt a parasite and a man of honor?   --L'Estrange.
    Why should he live, now nature bankrupt is?   --Shak.
    Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas.  Now, Barabbas was a robber.   --John xviii. 40.
    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.
 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.


 now and again
      adv : 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, at times,
             from time to time]