Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In a spasmodic manner; by fits and starts; by spasmodic action or procedure.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb In a spasmodic manner; intermittently.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb with spasms
  • adverb in spurts and fits

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

spasmodic +‎ -ally

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Examples

  • Hmmm. I can think of another word-similar but not quite the same as "spasmodically" - to describe Mad Nad and her blogging, but apparently the word's not politically correct these days.

    The Devil's Knife 2010

  • 1943: Letters are coming in spasmodically while parcels arrive fairly regularly.

    Work Camp 11033 GW 2010

  • The green barbet calls spasmodically throughout December, but, as a rule, only in the afternoon.

    A Bird Calendar for Northern India Douglas Dewar 1916

  • The green barbets also call spasmodically throughout the month, chiefly in the early morning and the late afternoon, but the only note uttered by the coppersmith is a soft _wow_.

    A Bird Calendar for Northern India Douglas Dewar 1916

  • His throat worked spasmodically, but made no sound, while he struggled with all his body, convulsed with the effort to rid himself of the incommunicable something that strained for utterance.

    The Call of Kind 2010

  • But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs, causing him to cough spasmodically.

    To Build a Fire 2010

  • The projection was an abstracted human head, spasmodically twitching in a sort of half-nod.

    365 tomorrows » Sam Clough : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2009

  • The unexpectedness of the crushing hurt of it caused him to yelp and at the same time instinctively and spasmodically to pull back with all his strength.

    CHAPTER XXIII 2010

  • Not only is there the creepy age difference in that movie, but his dancing seems to consist entirely of spasmodically moving his left leg and raising his left arm in a pointing gesture.

    Matthew Yglesias » Electric Bike? 2010

  • DVD Focus 'The Limey' (1999) Steven Soderbergh directed and Lem Dobbs wrote this slyly funny, spasmodically violent film noir in which the title character, a white-haired obsessive named Wilson (Terence Stamp), shows up in Los Angeles to avenge his daughter's death.

    Soderbergh Goes 'Haywire' With a Fast, Stylish Thriller Joe Morgenstern 2012

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