If somebody came around with hostile intentions, an emergency override on the control desk would still allow occasional spurts at full thrust.

However, there were occasional spurts in diplomatic tensions which culminated into increased military vigilance on both sides.

I stared out the window at the intermittently lighted concrete walls with occasional spurts of spray paint.

The woods beside the road erupted with occasional spurts of machine-gun fire and explosions.

It showed a moving mass of bright orange with occasional spurts of pale blue flame.

An occasional spurt from the walls close to the ceiling told him the source of his salvation.

He would have sworn they were really crawling along at twenty-five, with occasional spurts up to thirty.

Turning to look ahead, G-8 could see occasional spurts of flame from German artillery guns and he knew they were nearing the front lines.

Since 1973, however, the average has been roughly 1 percent, despite occasional upward spurts - including a blip over the last year or so.