From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishspasmodicspas‧mod‧ic /spæzˈmɒdɪk $ -ˈmɑː-/ adjective 1 REGULARhappening for short irregular periods, not continuously spasmodic machine gun fire2 formal or medicalHBPAIN of or relating to a muscle spasm a spasmodic cough —spasmodically /-kli/ adverb
Examples from the Corpus
spasmodic• The president's lobbying on behalf of his programme was uneven and spasmodic.• The record is spasmodic and must be treated as such.• From the library there was a broken murmur of voices, subdued and spasmodic as a funeral gathering.• After taking a cold, rawness of the larynx and trachea come on, then spasmodic constriction of the larynx at night.• Spasmodic displays of genius are evident in her music.• So while his competitors resorted to spasmodic mass layoffs and cutthroat bidding during economic downturns, Zack held his ground.• We communicated in spasmodic shouts, for Archie was growing deaf and the wind outside was showing no sign of abatement.• I was very prone to them at the time, mainly because I was undertaking only light and sometimes very spasmodic training.Origin spasmodic (1600-1700) Modern Latin spasmodicus, from Greek spasmos; → SPASM 