once in a while (/wʌns ɪn ə waɪl/)
phrase · Intermediate · Greetings & Phrases
🔊 /wʌns ɪn ə waɪl/
Meaning
Meaning: occasionally
From time to time, but not often or regularly. It describes something that happens occasionally.
Examples
🗣 We go to the cinema once in a while.
Etymology
From ‘once’ plus ‘in a while’, where ‘while’ means a period of time.
How & Where It’s Used
Common in casual speech about frequency.
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Tags: idiom