How to Use periodic in a Sentence

periodic

adjective
  • He takes the car in for periodic oil changes.
  • At least here, there's periodic breaks in the hurry-up-and-wait.
    A.a. Dowd, Chron, 12 Mar. 2023
  • Ash fluttered down from the sky, swirling with the periodic breezes.
    Daniel Popper, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025
  • There were periodic speeches throughout the night among the crowd, which marched twice around the building.
    oregonlive, 3 Oct. 2020
  • This week, the clubs of the Premier League met in London for one of their periodic conferences.
    Rory Smith, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2023
  • That’s the theme of Children Now’s latest version of its periodic scorecard on the state’s youth.
    Dan Walters, Orange County Register, 25 Feb. 2024
  • El Niño is the periodic warming of ocean waters in the Pacific Ocean near the equator.
    Dan Stillman, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2023
  • No true gimmicks, just 18 holes of a challenge and a periodic surprise or two as well.
    Randy McRoberts, baltimoresun.com, 23 Sep. 2020
  • But periodic soil and water sampling by land managers could tip them off if the snakes show up.
    Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 7 Dec. 2024
  • This only affects periodic cicadas, the ones that crawl out of the earth every 17 years.
    Star Tribune, 8 Aug. 2020
  • Up to half of the 2021 child tax credit could be paid out in periodic payments starting this summer.
    Anne Sraders, Fortune, 28 Apr. 2021
  • At issue in the case is the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, one of the periodic farm bills passed by Congress.
    Matt Ford, The New Republic, 8 Sep. 2021
  • The idea is to keep a closer watch on patients than is possible with periodic visits to the bedside.
    Casey Ross, STAT, 15 Aug. 2023
  • Human bird flu outbreaks are periodic and, so far, small in scale.
    David Axe, Rolling Stone, 2 Nov. 2022
  • The firm issues a report at the start of each year, laying out key targets, and then provides periodic updates and tweaks to the numbers.
    Dade Hayes, Deadline, 26 Mar. 2025
  • The footage captured by the drones will be also subject to periodic audits.
    Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2025
  • Case counts fluctuate, due in part to periodic epidemics, the CDC said.
    Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY, 7 Aug. 2024
  • Also, the 17-year-periodic cicadas have returned to ravage on plant life—and yes, some of them are even zombies.
    Kelly Corbett, House Beautiful, 17 Aug. 2020
  • The Jaguars turned the ball over four times and had periodic lapses on offense, defense and in the kicking game in a 28-21 victory over Alcorn State.
    Creg Stephenson | Cstephenson@al.com, al, 19 Sep. 2021
  • Is there a way to stop these periodic rodent outbreaks?
    Tess Joosse, Scientific American, 21 June 2021
  • Ansky’s periodic X-ray bursts last 10 times longer and shine 10 times brighter than a typical QPE.
    Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2025
  • The show is more of a comedy with periodic moments of action, suspense, and pathos.
    Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 13 May 2025
  • Between a tenth and a quarter of an inch of rain is predicted with periodic rain showers throughout the day.
    Forum News Service, Twin Cities, 16 May 2025
  • Plan on at least periodic showers and perhaps a steadier rain at times.
    Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2021
  • There's also the vague threat of war on the outer edges of the kingdom, and the periodic use of dragons as the ultimate weapon in Middle Ages-style aerial warfare.
    Brian Lowry, CNN, 19 Aug. 2022
  • The prison must also give periodic reports to the Justice Department on its progress.
    Adam Ferrise, cleveland, 23 Dec. 2022
  • In addition, the IRS must set up a new system for making periodic payments of the child tax credit.
    Richard Rubin, WSJ, 17 Mar. 2021
  • At the same time, towns have struggled with wildfires, smoke and periodic pandemic lockdowns that drove tourists away at key times.
    Gregory Thomas, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 June 2022
  • But the periodic court hearings at least give Gershkovich's family and friends and U.S. officials a glimpse of him.
    Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 30 Mar. 2024
  • Catholic Charities itself did not respond to interview requests as of publication time but has shared financial and operational updates in periodic emails to volunteers and staff and in public blog posts.
    Sofi Zeman, Kansas City Star, 23 June 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'periodic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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