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… 'give over jerk' and becomes fitful (4,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stop start

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'becomes fitful' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'give over jerk' is the wordplay.
'give over' becomes 'stop' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'jerk' becomes 'start' (I've seen this in another clue).
'stop'+'start'='STOP-START'

'and' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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