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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



... about like ants, making little paths and tracks in the dirt as they wiggled and waddled about, hunting for ye old Rebel soldier. Sherman's two thirty-pound parrot guns were in the same position, and every now and then a lazy-looking shell would pass over, speeding its way ...
— "Co. Aytch" - Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment - or, A Side Show of the Big Show • Sam R. Watkins
... shady side of the street, exchanging many salutations, pausing now and then to speak to a friend. Indeed, nearly every passer-by counted himself as such. In his bare room, where the merest necessities of life scarce had place, he sat down thoughtfully. The furniture, the few books, his own apparel, bespoke the direst poverty. This was one who in his simplicity ...
— In Kedar's Tents • Henry Seton Merriman
... housekeeper, as I used to do, in the making of jellies, sweetmeats, marmalades, cordials; and to pot and candy and preserve, for the use of the family; and to make myself all the fine linen of it. Then, sir, if you will indulge me with your company, I will take an airing in your chariot now and then; and I have no doubt of so behaving as to engage you frequently to fill up some part of my time in your ...
— The World's Greatest Books, Vol VII • Various
... now bustle and hubbub in the late quiet schoolroom. The scholars were hurried through their lessons without stopping at trifles; those who were nimble skipped over half with impunity, and those who were tardy had a smart application now and then in the rear, to quicken their speed or help them over a tall word. Books were flung aside without being put away on the shelves, inkstands were overturned, benches thrown down, and the whole school was turned loose an hour before the usual ...
— English: Composition and Literature • W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
... render to the Linnean school, that it produced our first devoted travellers; the race to which they succeeded employed themselves chiefly in visiting museums and cataloguing pictures, and now and then copying inscriptions; even in their books notices are found for which they who follow them may be thankful; and facts are sometimes, as if by accident, preserved, for useful application. They went abroad to accomplish ...
— Colloquies on Society • Robert Southey


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