occasionallyoc‧ca‧sion‧al‧ly /əˈkeɪʒənəli/ ●●● S2 W3 adverb 
Occasionally Alice would look up from her books. We only see each other very occasionally (=rarely).► see thesaurus at sometimesRegisterIn everyday English, people often say once in a while rather than occasionally:· We still see her once in a while.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Occasionally we go out to restaurants, but mostly we eat at home.
- He lives in Australia now, so we only see him very occasionally.
- He still occasionally goes out to bars.
- Kay's moods sometimes made life difficult, and occasionally impossible.
- Add seitan and spices; cook, stirring occasionally until seitan is browned, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- He just climbed up into his cabin, still grinning, occasionally giggling, and started his engine.
- He made friends easily though he occasionally collected the odd hanger-on who I felt sure was only waiting for a Sheikhly hand-out.
- Let stand 2 hours or preferably longer, blending occasionally.
- My stomach still bothers me occasionally.
- Reduce heat, and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until volume is reduced by half, approximately 20 minutes.
- Sometimes this would be a church hall, sometimes a Territorial Army drill hall, occasionally even a London Transport recreation room.
- The prefects also kicked you, as a rule with the inside of the shoe, but occasionally you felt the toe.
THESAURUS
on some occasions but not always: · Sometimes, I wish I was still living in Tokyo.· He sometimes plays football with my brother.
(also on occasion written) used about something that only happens a few times. Occasionally is used when something happens more rarely than sometimes: · I prefer trousers but I do wear skirts occasionally.· Occasionally, operations have to be cancelled.· On occasion, prisoners were allowed visits from their families.
(also from time to time) sometimes but not often or regularly: · We still call each other every now and then.· Every now and again, an invention comes along which changes people’s lives completely.· Even experienced doctors make mistakes from time to time.
sometimes at fairly regular periods: · He looked up from his book every so often.· Every so often, a train whizzed past.
if something happens at times, it happens sometimes but is not what usually happens: · The job can be frustrating at times.· At times I’ve wondered whether I made the right decision in moving here.
sometimes but very rarely: · We only see each other every once in a while.
Longman Language Activatorsometimes on some occasions, but not always: · Sometimes I drive to work and sometimes I walk.· Traffic noise is sometimes a problem.· The journey takes about an hour, sometimes even longer.· Injuries of this type sometimes take a long time to heal.
use this to talk about something that only happens a few times, and does not happen often: · Occasionally we go out to restaurants, but mostly we eat at home.· Kay's moods sometimes made life difficult, and occasionally impossible.very occasionally (=not at all often): · He lives in Australia now, so we only see him very occasionally.
at fairly regular periods but not often: · Every so often, Frank looked up at me and smiled.· The silence was broken every so often by the sound of guns in the distance.
sometimes but not at all often: · It would be nice if we could see each other once in a while.· Teaching art can be fairly dull, but once in a while I come across a talent that really excites me.every once in a while (=fairly rarely): · Every once in a while he disappears for days on end.
if something happens at times , it happens on particular occasions but it is not normal or typical of what usually happens: · In a job like this, you're bound to feel a little stressed at times.· At times even the most talented athletes lose their motivation.
use this to talk about something that sometimes happens that is different from what happens most of the time: · I wear hats now and again, but they don't really suit me.· Now and then she would check on the baby sleeping in the next room.every now and again/every now and then: · Every now and again a passenger would pass through the carriage on the way to the bathroom.
sometimes, but not at all regularly and not very often: · This is the kind of problem that we all have from time to time.· From time to time a helicopter flew by, but mostly the sky remained clear.
especially spoken for short periods, but not continuously or regularly, over a long period of time: · We've been going out together for five years, off and on. · I worked in bars on and off for two years before I decided to go back to college.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY We only see each other very occasionally (=rarely).COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSVERB
We only see each other very occasionally (=rarely).· Matthew appeared occasionally in riding clothes, and what was more, kept horses somewhere at the back of the house.· There would appear occasionally, in his talk and press releases, hints and bits of intellectual phrasing.· Yet old farmers say that Frederick does still live, and that he occasionally appears disguised as a pilgrim.· He had an office on the fortieth floor, he appeared occasionally in the newspapers, but one never actually saw him.· Thankfully the floating grey pods which occasionally appear contain handy weapon power-ups and extra lives.
· Outside there are scudding clouds, but they are high up and the sun occasionally breaks through.· The silence was broken occasionally by a muffled gasp or a quivering sigh that was more like the hiss of air brakes.· The only sound was her father's heavy breathing, occasionally broken by a snore.· Still, even there lightness would occasionally break through.· A marriage occasionally broke up because the wife asked for too much.· Dogs began to bark, triggering a rallying cry, a droning chorus broken occasionally by one or other's high-pitched howling.· This is broken occasionally where farm tracks cut into the fields.· Unfortunately coaches are not infallible and do occasionally break down or need replacing and certain on board facilities may occasionally fail.
· You may occasionally find you drop quite a bit of weight fairly suddenly.· But his ideology was unconfined by party lines, occasionally finding him allied with the likes of Sen.· Larger and more ambitious binoculars can be found occasionally.
· Jejunal secretion is, however, known to occasionally occur in healthy subjects.· Yet our system could not work without judges to correct the miscarriages of justice that occasionally occur in a jury trial.· It contributes to the syndrome of parasitic gastroenteritis and only occasionally occurs in sufficient numbers to cause clinical disease on its own.· L3-4 herniated disks occur occasionally, but levels higher than this are exceedingly rare.· The Eriophorum is frequent or abundant in bog pools dominated by Sphagnum species in which other vascular plant species only occur occasionally.· Seizures occasionally occur in patients taking theophylline for control of bronchial asthma.· Perhaps, as in humans, immunisation occasionally occurs during the first pregnancy, and the 8 percent refers to these foals.· Nausea, visual impairment, or headache occasionally occur.
· Cook, stirring constantly until thickened; about 2 minutes. 4 Cool, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming.· Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until tender but not brown.· Place in a hot heavy-based pan or wok and cook until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.· Reduce heat to low; cook 3 to 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally.· Stir in milk and soup and heat until bubbling, stirring occasionally.· Cook over medium-low heat 3 to 4 minutes, or until well-blended, stirring occasionally.· Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until all the water from the beans has evaporated.· Add peanuts and cook to 280 degrees. Stir occasionally and continue cooking to 305 degrees.
· Its toxicity has severely limited its use as an antiulcer drug but either it or its analogues are occasionally used clinically.· Monamine oxidase inhibitors are used occasionally in migraine patients who are refractory to other prophylactic drugs.· Smile sweetly and use the Press when you need them, smile sweetly and grit your teeth when they occasionally use you.· Another strategy that Cooley uses occasionally is the analogy between things that are very different in most respects.· The firm now concentrates on search, only occasionally using selection.· The Ducks and Kings for the game each debuted new jerseys, which will be used occasionally.· At the other end, a training manager may occasionally use some basic sampling methods and various evaluation techniques incorporating statistical methods.· They had in mind a back entrance occasionally used by delivery trucks in the dead of night.
WORD FAMILYnounoccasionadjectiveoccasionaladverboccasionally
sometimes, but not regularly and not often: Occasionally Alice would look up from her books. We only see each other very occasionally (=rarely).► see thesaurus at sometimesRegisterIn everyday English, people often say once in a while rather than occasionally:· We still see her once in a while.