by the seat of the pants

1. see seat of the pants.

Example Sentences

“I think it’s going to be a little bit by the seat of the pants because there’s no formula to go by,” Popovich said.

From Seattle Times

This gave them a broad range of aircraft experience, including flying manually with minimal automation — sometimes referred to as “flying by the seat of the pants.”

From Seattle Times

It was always sort of by the seat of the pants.

From Washington Times

It’s always tempting to think of Trump as operating entirely by the seat of the pants, but nobody runs for president without some kind of a plan.

From Salon

“Next time I kept my head up,” Mason recalled, “and he grabbed me by the seat of the pants and scruff of the neck and tossed me aside like a bouncer throwing a drunk out of a beer joint.”

From Washington Post