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Let's say I have a series of things...

XXX

...and I'm putting something else between each one:

XYXYX

Is there a verb for this? For example, between every workweek (X) there is a weekend (Y). Possible sentence: "Workweeks are _____ed with/by weekends."

The closest word I came up with is intersperse, but this seems to have a connotation of haphazardness or randomness (Oxford definition: to "scatter among or between other things; place here and there"). "Workweeks are interspersed with weekends" suggests a certain randomness to the occurrence of weekends, whereas I want to convey that a Y has been consistently placed between every X. Is there a word for this?

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  • 1
    Workweeks are alternated with weekends – user067531 Jan 23 '18 at 20:02
  • One or more Y is inserted in the sequence. – Weather Vane Jan 23 '18 at 20:07
  • I get the X and Y example, but why the need to explain what a weekend is? It is like saying "between every sleep I am awake". – Weather Vane Jan 23 '18 at 20:09
  • @WeatherVane: Thanks, but I'm looking for something more specific than "inserted." The workweek/weekend example was only for illustration as an example of a Y placed between every X. – J.L Jan 23 '18 at 20:18
  • I think you need a different sample sentence. Workweeks are segmented by weekends. – jxh Jan 23 '18 at 22:44
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I think I found the word I was looking for: interleave.

  1. (transitive) To insert (pages, which are normally blank) between the pages of a book.
  2. (transitive) To intersperse (something) at regular intervals between the parts of a thing or between items in a group.

Source: Wiktionary

This has the connotation I was looking for: that of interspersing a Y between every X (as in definition 1: a blank page between every page of a book).

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  • This doesn't sound idiomatic for non-concrete entities. And there are just three Google hits for the more general "days are interleaved". None for "weeks are interleaved". If you're going to ask-and-answer-immediately, make sure you do all the necessary research first. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 23 '18 at 21:41

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