startinglyadv.
/ˈstɑːtɪŋli/, U.S. /ˈstɑrdɪŋli/ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [adverb] > intermittently
by (formerly also at) startsc1422
startmeal?c1422
off and on1535
every otherwhile1542
by, or in, snatches1577
by fits and turns1583
by halves and fits1583
one time with another1591
fit-meal1593
by fits and spurts1605
planetarily?1609
scatteredly1612
startinglya1616
by snaps1631
intermittingly1654
from space to space1658
on and off1668
at (by) intervals1744
cessantly1746
by spells1788
fitfully1792
by fits and spasms1797
everylikea1800
intermittently1800
intermittedly1829
interjectionally1837
jerkily1839
at seasons1850
sporadically1852
parenthetically1860
spasmodically1877
snatchily1880
variously1892
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. iv. 79 Why doe you speake so startingly and rashly.
1638 D. Featley Serm. in Stricturæ in Lyndomastygem ii. 174 in H. Lynde Case for Spectacles In a Fever..it [sc. the pulse] beateth unevenly and startingly.
2. With a start or starts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > sudden movement > [adverb]
flounce1582
startingly1693
flick1862
1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. xiv. 119 You startingly awaked.
1827 T. Moore Alciphron iii. 127 As startingly her eyes she rais'd.
1841 Fraser's Mag. 23 315 Then startingly the pheasant springeth forth.
1917 F. P. Elliott Lend me your Name! 63 ‘Ow-w!’ ejaculated his Lordship startingly.
2015 Vampire Slave xxiii, in www.wattpad.com 15 May (O.E.D. Archive) Just as its claws wrapped around my tiny, futile body, I woke up startingly in my bed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.a1616