in fits and starts
intermittently, jerkily
But I think the possibility of a black and white society feeding each other's expertises, living harmoniously, will probably go along in fits and starts now but at least it has a great constitution now to back it up. Janet Suzman
Time was something that moved in fits and starts for Magnus, dissipating like mist or dragging like chains, but when Alec was here, Magnus's time seemed to fall into an easy rhythm with Alec's, like two heartbeats falling into sync. Cassandra Clare
I was totally absorbed in the real world, the politics, the history, the news, and I just couldn't find my way into the fictional world... When I finally could return to writing the novel, it was in fits and starts. David Guterson
And when they’re scattered across four home offices and a dozen time zones, you get used to work that flows in fits and starts. Source: Internet
Rhetoric reentered secondary curriculum in fits and starts, but never regained the prominence it had enjoyed under the ancien régime, although the penultimate year of secondary education was known as the Class of Rhetoric. Source: Internet
His rod bent over, and I could hear his reel grudgingly giving up line in fits and starts as the fish refused to come closer. Source: Internet