资料来源 : pyDict
有时,不时,偶尔
资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Now \Now\, adv. [OE. nou, nu, AS. n[=u], nu; akin to D., OS., &
OHG. nu, G. nu, nun, Icel., n[=u], Dan., Sw., & Goth. nu, L.
nunc, Gr. ?, ?, Skr. nu, n[=u]. [root]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. ``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.
Then \Then\ ([th][e^]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.
资料来源 : WordNet®
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" [syn: {occasionally}, {on
occasion}, {once in a while}, {now and again}, {at
times}, {from time to time}]