Definition of "spasmodic" [spas•mod•ic]

• Relating to, affected by, or having the character of a spasm; convulsive. (adjective)
• Happening intermittently; fitful: spasmodic rifle fire. (adjective)
• Given to sudden outbursts of energy or feeling; excitable. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Mr. Harding was some minutes quite dumbfounded, and Mr. Arabin could only talk in short, spasmodic sentences about his love and good fortune."
• "Banks of snow cut them off; snowshoes sank in air pockets -- holes made by protruding limbs of the short, gnarled trees of timber line, -- and through these the man fought in short, spasmodic lunges, breaking the way for the woman who came behind, never stopping except to gather strength for a fresh attack, never ceasing for obstacle or for danger."
• "It was grumbled out in short spasmodic sentences between the slow whiffs of his pipe, as he sat by the fire in a little parlour off the hall, with his indefatigable daughter at work at a table near him."