once in a while

Adverbial once in a while has 1 sense

• once in a while(r = adv.all) at times, from time to time, now and again, now and then, occasionally, on occasion - now and then or here and there; "he was arrogant and occasionally callous"; "open areas are only occasionally interrupted by clumps of trees"; "they visit New York on occasion"; "now and again she would take her favorite book from the shelf and read to us"; "as we drove along, the beautiful scenery now and then attracted his attention"