ON AND OFF

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does on and off mean? 

• ON AND OFF (adverb)
  The adverb ON AND OFF has 1 sense:

1. not regularly

  Familiarity information: ON AND OFF used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ON AND OFF (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not regularly

Synonyms:

off and on; on and off

Context example:

they phone each other off and on

 Context examples 

Researchers developed a tool that can turn specific sets of neurons on and off in mice to affect behavior.

(Controlling Brain Circuits in Mice, NIH)

An electric device designed to repeatedly and rapidly turn a light on and off.

(Flasher Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Epigenetic changes are changes in the way genes are switched on and off without changing the actual DNA sequence.

(Epigenomics, NCI Dictionary)

Chromatin, the complex of DNA and protein that forms chromosomes, also affects how genes are expressed (turned on and off).

(Expanding Our Understanding of Genomics, NIH)

Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) Hygiene: are you able to get on and off the toilet?

(HAQ-DI - Able to Get On and Off Toilet, NCI Thesaurus)

One possibility for how this change might occur is that pregnancy alters the organ’s epigenome, the collection of chemical markers that affect how genes are turned on and off, or expressed.

(Mammary Gland May Have Epigenetic Memory, NIH)

Yet, on the other hand, I cannot but think it shame that a man should turn God's mercy on and off, as a cellarman doth wine with a spigot.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) Grip: are you able to turn faucets on and off?

(HAQ-DI - Able to Turn Faucets On and Off, NCI Thesaurus)

Epigenetic changes affect how genes are turned on and off, or expressed, and thus help regulate how cells in different parts of the body use the same genetic code.

(DNA changes predict longevity, NIH)

If aligned well enough with Earth, these beams act like a lighthouse beacon — appearing to flash on and off as the pulsar rotates.

(NuSTAR Helps Find Universe's Brightest Pulsars, NASA)