now and then : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: now and then	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for now and then
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
now and then 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" Synonym(s): occasionally, on occasion, once in a while, now and then, now and again, at times, from time to time
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Now \Now\, adv. [OE. nou, nu, AS. n[d4], nu; akin to D., OS., & OHG. nu, G. nu, nun, Icel., n[d4], Dan., Sw., & Goth. nu, L. nunc, Gr. [?], [?], Skr. nu, n[d4]. [fb]193. Cf. {New}.] 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. [bd]A mead here, there a heath, and now and then a wood.[b8] --Drayton. {Now now}, at this very instant; precisely now. [Obs.] [bd]Why, even now now, at holding up of this finger, and before the turning down of this.[b8] --J. Webster (1607). {Now . . . now}, alternately; at one time . . . at another time. [bd]Now high, now low, now master up, now miss.[b8] --Pope.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Then \Then\ ([th][ecr]n), adv. [Originally the same word as than. See {Than}.] 1. At that time (referring to a time specified, either past or future). And the Canaanite was then in the land. --Gen. xii. 6. Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. --1 Cor. xiii. 12. 2. Soon afterward, or immediately; next; afterward. First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. --Matt. v. 24. 3. At another time; later; again. 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. {By then}. (a) By that time. (b) By the time that. [Obs.] 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. {Now and then}. See under {Now}, adv. {Till then}, until that time; until the time mentioned. --Milton. Note: Then is often used elliptically, like an adjective, for then existing; as, the then administration.