at a time

English

Prepositional phrase

at a time

1. In a single, continuous period of time.

   He manages to abstain from smoking for weeks at a time, but then gives in and starts again.

2. Simultaneously at each occurrence (of some action).

   climb stairs two at a time

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 58–59:

     The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. […] Their example was followed by others at a time when the master of Mohair was superintending in person the docking of some two-year-olds, and equally invisible.

Synonyms

• (in a single, continuous period of time): in a row, at a stretch
• (simultaneously at each occurrence): at once, at one time, at the same time, simultaneously, together; see also Thesaurus:simultaneously

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “simultaneously at each occurrence”): individually, one at a time, piecemeal, separately, severally, singly

Derived terms

• one at a time

Translations

in a continuous period

• Danish: ad gangen
• Dutch: tegelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: -ope (eo), samtempe
• Finnish: kerrallaan (fi)
• French: à la fois (fr)
• Hungarian: egyhuzamban (hu), egyvégtében (hu), megszakítás nélkül
• Italian: alla volta, per volta
• Marathi: एका वेळीस (ekā veḷīs)
• Slovak: za sebou, po sebe, naraz
• Spanish: a la vez (es)

simultaneously

• Catalan: a la vegada (ca)
• Danish: ad gangen
• Esperanto: samtempe
• Hungarian: -esével, -asával, -osával, -ösével
• Polish: naraz (pl)
• Portuguese: por vez
• Slovak: naraz, spolu
• Spanish: a la vez (es)
• Swedish: i taget (sv)
• Welsh: fesul

Anagrams

• Maietta, tamaite