touch and go

¹

noun

1. a precarious or delicate state of affairs.

   It was touch and go there for a while during the operation.

2. quick action or movement.

   the touch and go of city traffic.

touch-and-go

²

[tuhch-uhn-goh]

adjective

1. risky; precarious.

   a touch-and-go descent down the mountain.

2. hasty, sketchy, or desultory.

touch and go

adjective

1. (touch-and-go when prenominal) risky or critical

   a touch-and-go situation

touch and go

1. Uncertain or precarious: “The doctors told the patient that, even though her disease was in remission, from now on it was touch and go.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of touch and go¹

First recorded in 1645–55

Origin of touch and go²

First recorded in 1805–15

Idioms and Phrases

Extremely uncertain or risky, as in It was touch and go after the surgery; we were not sure he'd survive it, or It was touch and go but they finally gave me a seat on the plane. This idiom implies that a mere touch may cause a calamity. [Early 1800s]