seat-of-the-pants

[ seet-uhv-thuh-pants ]

/ ˈsit əv ðəˈpænts /

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using or based on experience, instinct, or guesswork: a seat-of-the-pants management style.

done without the aid of instruments: The pilot made a seat-of-the-pants landing.

QUIZZES

Set some time apart to test your bracket symbol knowledge, and see if you can keep your parentheses, squares, curlies, and angles all straight!

Question 1 of 7

Let’s start with some etymology: What are the origins of the typographical word “bracket”?

First recorded in 1940–45

France 24 is providing live, round-the-clock coverage of both scenes as they progress.
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He wore white gloves, a dignified long black coat, and matching pants and vest, and he carried a dark walking stick.
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Sleek finds it far harder work than fortune-making; but he pursues his Will-o'-the-Wisp with untiring energy.
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Aristide replaced the baby, and with a complicated arrangement of string fastened it securely to the seat.
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Pierre Van Cortlandt, a distinguished revolutionary patriot, died at his seat at Croton river, aged 94.
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Aristide clambered back to his seat, took the child on his knees, and commiserated it profoundly.
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He deposited it on the vacant seat, clambered up behind the wheel, and started.
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