irregular basis
- noun
:
de manera irregular
- (n18) Women in Sennar regarded the jabana as a fairly recent innovation in the town, and by 1985, it was also being held in some of the surrounding villages on an irregular basis.
Examples
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Off South Africa, seals are found at 10 breeding colonies and 5 nonbreeding colonies (where pups are found only on an irregular basis).
Academic text (1994) -
NMSU's agricultural department stockpiles the material and gives it to the compost site on an irregular basis.
Academic text (2000) -
Administrative staff (e.g., directors, nutrition coordinators) attended sessions on an irregular basis.
Academic text (2013) -
Comprising initially about ten participants, the project now enables about ninety women to glean a regular monthly income from sales and approximately sixty others, who produce embroideries on a more irregular basis, to supplement earnings gleaned elsewhere.
Academic text (2005) -
The committee meets to discuss community issues on an irregular basis to ensure all voices are heard.
-
He visits his family on an irregular basis, sometimes coming every month and other times not for a year.
-
The park is maintained on an irregular basis, with cleaning occurring whenever volunteers are available.
Synonyms
13
6.4
In a way that is not regular or easy to predict
13
6.5
Happening only sometimes and not regularly
4
4.2
Happens at different times and not in a steady way
Antonyms
How Regular
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'at inconsistent intervals' is directly derivable from 'irregular' (not regular) modifying 'basis' in the common pattern 'on a ___ basis' meaning frequency or schedule. This compositional, productive pattern is common in many languages and would be predictable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
The phrase irregular basis comes from the idea of a basis as a usual pattern and irregular meaning not regular. Imagine marks on a calendar made at random instead of at the same time every week or month; they are 'not regular', so the phrase means 'happening at different times, not on a fixed plan'.