N. discontinuity, disjunction, anacoluthon, interruption, break, fracture, flaw, fault, crack, cut, gap, solution of continuity, caesura, broken thread, parenthesis, episode, rhapsody, patchwork, intermission, alternation, dropping fire

V. be discontinuous, alternate, intermit, sputter, stop and start, hesitate, discontinue, pause, interrupt, intervene, break, break in upon, break off, interpose, break the thread, snap the thread, disconnect, dissever

Adj. discontinuous, unsuccessive, broken, interrupted, dicousu, disconnected, unconnected, discrete, disjunctive, fitful, spasmodic, desultory, intermitting, occasional, intermittent, alternate, recurrent

Adv. at intervals, by snatches, by jerks, by skips, by catches, by fits and starts, skippingly, per saltum, longo intervallo

Phr. like "angel visits few and far between"

N. transience, transientness, evanescence, impermanence, fugacity, caducity, mortality, span, nine days' wonder, bubble, mayfly, spurt, flash in the pan, temporary arrangement, interregnum, velocity, suddenness, changeableness, transient, transient boarder, transient guest

V. be transient, flit, pass away, fly, gallop, vanish, fade, evaporate, pass away like a cloud, pass away like a summer cloud, pass away like a shadow, pass away like a dream

Adj. transient, transitory, transitive, passing, evanescent, fleeting, cursory, short-lived, ephemeral, flying, fugacious, fugitive, shifting, slippery, spasmodic, instantaneous, momentaneous, temporal, temporary, provisional, provisory, deciduous, perishable, mortal, precarious, unstable, insecure, impermanent, brief, quick, brisk, extemporaneous, summary, pressed for time, sudden, momentary

Adv. temporarily, pro tempore, for the moment, for a time, awhile, en passant, in transitu, in a short time, soon, briefly, at short notice, on the point of, on the eve of, in articulo, between cup and lip

Phr. one's days are numbered, the time is up, here today and gone tomorrow, non semper erit aestas, eheu, fugaces labuntur anni, sic transit gloria mundi, a schoolboy's tale, the wonder of the hour, [Byron], dum loquimur fugerit invidia aetas, fugit hora, all that is transitory is but an illusion

N. irregularity, uncertainty, unpunctuality, fitfulness, capriciousness, ecrhythmus|

Adj. irregular, uncertain, unpunctual, capricious, desultory, fitful, flickering, rambling, rhapsodical, spasmodic, immethodical, unmethodical, variable

Adv. irregularly, by fits and starts, 1, simple change

N. changeableness, mutability, inconstancy, versatility, mobility, instability, unstable equilibrium, vacillation, fluctuation, vicissitude, alternation, restlessness, fidgets, disquiet, disquietude, inquietude, unrest, agitation, moon, proteus, chameleon, quicksilver, shifting sands, weathercock, harlequin, cynthia of the minute, april showers, wheel of fortune, transientness

V. fluctuate, vary, waver, flounder, flicker, flitter, flit, flutter, shift, shuffle, shake, totter, tremble, vacillate, wamble, turn and turn about, ring the changes, sway to and fro, shift to and fro, change and change about, waffle, blow with the wind (irresolute) 605, oscillate, vibrate between, two extremes, oscillate between, two extremes, alternate, have as many phases as the moon

Adj. changeable, changeful, changing, mutable, variable, checkered, ever changing, protean, proteiform|, versatile, unstaid, inconstant, unsteady, unstable, unfixed, unsettled, fluctuating, restless, agitated, erratic, fickle, irresolute, capricious, touch and go, inconsonant, fitful, spasmodic, vibratory, vagrant, wayward, desultory, afloat, alternating, alterable, plastic, mobile, transient, wavering

Adv. seesaw, off and on

Phr. "a rolling stone gathers no moss", pictra mossa non fa muschis, honores mutant mores, varium et mutabile semper femina

N. violence, inclemency, vehemence, might, impetuosity, boisterousness, effervescence, ebullition, turbulence, bluster, uproar, callithump, riot, row, rumpus, le diable a quatre, devil to pay, all the fat in the fire, severity, ferocity, rage, fury, exacerbation, exasperation, malignity, fit, paroxysm, orgasm, climax, aphrodisia, force, brute force, outrage, coup de main, strain, shock, shog, spasm, convulsion, throe, hysterics, passion, outbreak, outburst, debacle, burst, bounce, dissilience, discharge, volley, explosion, blow up, blast, detonation, rush, eruption, displosion|, torrent, turmoil, ferment, storm, tempest, rough weather, squall, earthquake, volcano, thunderstorm, berserk, berserker, fury, dragon, demon, tiger, beldame, tisiphone, megaera, alecto, madcap, wild beast, fire eater

V. be -violent, run high, ferment, effervesce, romp, rampage, go on a rampage, run wild, run amuck, run riot, break the peace, rush, tear, rush headlong, rush foremost, raise a storm, make a riot, rough house*, riot, storm, wreak, bear down, ride roughshod, out herod, herod, spread like wildfire, explode, make a row, kick up a row, boil, boil over, fume, foam, come on like a lion, bluster, rage, roar, fly off the handle, go bananas, go ape, blow one's top, blow one's cool, flip one's lid, hit the ceiling, hit the roof, fly into a rage (anger) 900, break out, fly out, burst out, bounce, explode, go off, displode|, fly, detonate, thunder, blow up, crump, flash, flare, burst, shock, strain, break open, force open, prize open, render violent, sharpen, stir up, quicken, excite, incite, annoy, urge, lash, stimulate, turn on, irritate, inflame, kindle, suscitate|, foment, accelerate, aggravate, exasperate, exacerbate, convulse, infuriate, madden, lash into fury, fan the flame, add fuel to the flame, pour oil on the fire, oleum addere camino, explode, let fly, fly off, discharge, detonate, set off, detonize, fulminate

Adj. violent, vehement, warm, acute, sharp, rough, rude, ungentle, bluff, boisterous, wild, brusque, abrupt, waspish, impetuous, rampant, turbulent, disorderly, blustering, raging, troublous, riotous, tumultuary, tumultuous, obstreperous, uproarious, extravagant, unmitigated, ravening, inextinguishable, tameless, frenzied, desperate, infuriate, furious, outrageous, frantic, hysteric, in hysterics, fiery, flaming, scorching, hot, red-hot, ebullient, savage, fierce, ferocious, fierce as a tiger, excited, unquelled, unquenched, unextinguished, unrepressed, unbridled, unruly, headstrong, ungovernable, unappeasable, immitigable, unmitigable, uncontrollable, incontrollable, insuppressible, irrepressible, orgastic, orgasmatic, orgasmic, spasmodic, convulsive, explosive, detonating, volcanic, meteoric, stormy

Adv. violently, amain, by storm, by force, by main force, with might and main, tooth and nail, vi et armis, at the point of the sword, at the point of the bayonet, at one fell swoop, with a high hand, through thick and thin, in desperation, with a vengeance, a outrance, a toute outrance, headlong, head foremost

Phr. furor arma ministrat, "blown with restless violence round about the pendent world"