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Now and then   /naʊ ənd ðɛn/   Listen
adverb
Now  adv.  
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."
2.
Very lately; not long ago. "They that but now, for honor and for plate, Made the sea blush with blood, resign their hate."
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."
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?" "Why should he live, now nature bankrupt is?" "Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now, Barabbas was a robber." "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."
Now and again, now and then; occasionally.
Now and now, again and again; repeatedly. (Obs.)
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."
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."
Now... now, alternately; at one time... at another time. "Now high, now low, now master up, now miss."


Then  adv.  
1.
At that time (referring to a time specified, either past or future). "And the Canaanite was then in the land." "Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
2.
Soon afterward, or immediately; next; afterward. "First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
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."
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."
Now and then. See under Now, adv.
Till then, until that time; until the time mentioned. Note: Then is often used elliptically, like an adjective, for then existing; as, the then administration.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Now and then" Quotes from Famous Books



... looked anxiously round: "I may be mistaken—I hope I am—but do you know, dear, I doubt I'm not quite so wakeful as I ought to be. You wouldn't notice it, of course, because it is when I am alone or as good as alone. But sometimes—just now and then, you know—when I have been with the girls while they took their lessons from the masters, the time has seemed to go so very fast. I should really have thought they hadn't drawn a line when the drawing-master has said, 'That will do for to-day, young ladies,' and none of ...
— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 22. October, 1878. • Various
... Snooks and away went pig; but Snooks' laugh remained, and every now and then Snooks turned his head and showed his large ...
— The Humourous Story of Farmer Bumpkin's Lawsuit • Richard Harris
... and walked along the grass-covered streets, pock-marked by innumerable shell-holes, and every now and then I had to dive into some cellar for shelter from falling shells. At the Hotel de Ville the same sight presented itself. The bombardment had reduced its walls to little more than a tottering shell, which fell to pieces ...
— How I Filmed the War - A Record of the Extraordinary Experiences of the Man Who - Filmed the Great Somme Battles, etc. • Lieut. Geoffrey H. Malins
... Covent Garden oranges; in his Shipwrecks chests of them are flung upon the waters; and in his St. Gothard a litter of stones reflects Covent Garden wreck after the market! What wonder Mr. Turner was tempted to exclaim now and then about his arch-critic—'He knows a great deal more about my pictures than I do. He puts things into my head, and points out meanings in them that I ...
— Art in England - Notes and Studies • Dutton Cook
... of the town-hall opened, and between a double file of soldiers advanced seventeen non-commissioned officers, each one assisted by two monks of the order of Misericordia. Mournful silence prevailed, interrupted every now and then by the doleful beating of the drums, and the prayers of the agonising, chanted by the monks. The procession moved slowly on, and after some time reached the palace; the seventeen non-commissioned officers were ordered to kneel, their faces turned towards the wall. After a lengthened beating ...
— Adventures in the Philippine Islands • Paul P. de La Gironiere


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