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• catch-as-catch-can
  catch-as-catch-can

  adjective

  Also catch-can taking advantage of any opportunity; using any method that can be applied.
• catch as catch can
  catch as catch can

  By whatever means or in any way possible, as in There was no formal language program; one simply learned Spanish catch as catch can. This term, in slightly varying versions but with the same meaning, dates from the late 1300s.

catch-as-catch-can

American  

[kach-uhz-kach-kan] / ˈkætʃ əzˈkætʃˈkæn /

adjective

1. Also catch-can taking advantage of any opportunity; using any method that can be applied.

   He lived a catch-as-catch-can life as an itinerant handyman.

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adverb

1. without specific plan or order.

   They traveled catch-as-catch-can, taking whatever bus or train was most convenient.

noun

1. a style of wrestling in which the contestants are permitted to trip, tackle, and use holds below the waist.

catch-as-catch-can British  

noun

1. a style of wrestling in which trips, holds below the waist, etc, are allowed

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adjective

1. using any method or opportunity that comes to hand

catch-as-catch-can Cultural  

1. A phrase that describes a situation in which people must improvise or do what they can with limited means: “We don't have enough textbooks for all of the students, so it'll be catch-as-catch-can.”

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catch as catch can Idioms  

1. By whatever means or in any way possible, as in There was no formal language program; one simply learned Spanish catch as catch can. This term, in slightly varying versions but with the same meaning, dates from the late 1300s.

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Etymology

Origin of catch-as-catch-can

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

catch-as-catch-can catch as catch can

Others had to be a bit more catch-as-catch-can.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 12, 2021

This is a record of the movie year as I experienced it: fragmentary, catch-as-catch-can, often out of sync with “the conversation” yet somehow astonishingly timely.

From Slate ● Dec. 15, 2020

It would replace “obsolescent housing and catch-as-catch-can maintenance” with “a nirvana of planned Neighborhoods.”

From Reuters ● Dec. 27, 2018

Though true to the catch-as-catch-can tradition of '20s musical comedy, "Shuffle Along" did something radical that was instantly assimilated: It infused jazz into the sound of Broadway.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2016

Is voice culture a sort of catch-as-catch-can with the probabilities a hundred to one against success?

From The Head Voice and Other Problems Practical Talks on Singing by Clippinger, D. A. (David Alva)

Rare is the algorithm that would promote it; and the CD version, from the Koch label, is catch as catch can on the secondhand marketplace.

From New York Times ● Dec. 23, 2022

The relationships we had were primarily transactional, catch as catch can.

From Forbes ● Aug. 23, 2012

In the early days, stock-car racing was pretty much catch as catch can: tracks were haphazardly laid out; there were no safety standards for the cars.

From Time Magazine Archive

His executives believe that funding for the project is catch as catch can.

From Time Magazine Archive

One may break away and run a few yards to get a fresh start, or clinch, or catch as catch can.

From Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains by Eastman, Charles Alexander