variably

Like Gregory House, Watson has his crew of variably eager young experts slash students slash acolytes, each with a specialty.

“These studies support the presence of a widespread network of cortical and subcortical areas that are variably recruited based on specific task parameters and demands,” the authors write.

Vapor compression—the system by which standard AC works—moves a refrigerant through a cycle in which it is variably condensed and expanded, enabling it to absorb heat from inside and release that heat outside.

Other than a general consensus that they’re caused by some astrophysical process, they’ve been variably attributed to solar activity, emissions from a nearby supernova or neutron star or even Earth’s close encounter with a comet.

Back then there was also lots of potential for drama large and small, given that the census was conducted by “enumerators” who went door to door and collected answers in their own variably legible penmanship.