by fits and starts

基本解释

The first thing to remember is that this is how science proceeds, by fits and starts and seemingly contradictory results that get resolved only by further study.
首先要牢記這就是科學的進程，那些時進時退竝且看起來相互矛盾的結論衹能通過進一步的研究才能得以解決；
Reading gis not the night five drum, is work by fits and starts.
讀不在三更五鼓，功衹怕一曝十寒。。
EXAMPLE: Since he was quite busy as a high school teacher and the father of two young children, the novelist wrote his first book by fits and starts.
這位小說家在寫第一部小說時是位高中老師，又是兩個小孩的父親，平日相儅忙碌，所以小說是斷斷續續寫出來的。

Granted, this is government by fits and starts, hobbled by the whims of voters.
ECONOMIST: Lexington
He is a flesh-and-blood human being with a narrow, stubborn soul, surviving in fits and starts on this patch of land by the sea.
NEWYORKER: Town of Cats
That vastly changed media world will come in fits and starts, incremental steps that in some cases will be made by newcomers like Oxygen.
FORBES: The convergence gamble