on/off

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Harvard and the administration have been involved in on-off talks for months to try to resolve their dispute, but no deal has materialized.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

Rybakina had wanted to bring her on-off Croatian coach Stefano Vukov back into her team for the Melbourne major.

From Barron's • Jan. 30, 2026

I’ve found that almost all managers fall into the same delegation trap: They treat delegation like an on-off switch.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 13, 2025

The first dispute between Unite and Birmingham City Council saw on-off industrial action for several weeks from January, before all-out strikes started on 11 March.

From BBC • Dec. 1, 2025

It was more like this: Every half-hour when the shows switched, my mother walked over to the television and tried the on-off button several times.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt