From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishoff and onoff and on (also on and off)REGULAR for short periods but not regularly, over a long period of time We’ve been going out together for five years, off and on. → off
Examples from the Corpus
off and on• Baltimore was foreign off and on.• He dozed off and on but had no understanding of deeper sleep.• He's lived in the King Edward off and on for 30 years.• And friendship with Clan Diarmaid, that we've been fighting off and on for five generations!• Rachel and Alan have been dating off and on for five years.• Even so, I thought about this man off and on for most of the week.• Beck and Phil Woods, both virtuosi, have played together off and on for years, and their rapport is magical.• We've been together ever since, off and on, helping each other out.• The lights flicker off and on, off and on, the signal that the library is about to close. 