catch as catch can meaning: definition, quotations

catch-as-catch-can

adjalso spelled catch-as-catch-can

Idiomatic Only when possible or when the opportunity presents itself; intermittent.

My efforts lately have been catch-as-catch-can, not carefully planned.
My wife did indeed provide the more dependable contributions to our income while mine came catch-as-catch-can.1952, Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Penguin Books (2014), page x:

Government, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Martial arts, Military, Politics, Sports, War, Wrestling Relating to catch wrestling, a folk style of wrestling with minimal restrictions.

In Lancashire and the north of Ireland, the catch-hold or catch-as-catch-can system still finds favour.1980, Walter Armstrong, Wrestling, page x:

adv

Ad hoc; in any way possible.

verb

Idiomatic, Imperative, No past, Participle, Past To use any available means or methods.

Which being done, the Women run in the dark to catch as catch can; and whatever Lot they light on,[…]1698, John Fryer, “Carries Us to Jelfa; Where Is Treated of the Gabers, or Original Persians, the Armenians, Georgians, and Europe Artisans”, in A New Account of East-India and Persia, in Eight Letters. Being Nine Years Travels, Begun 1672. And Finished 1681. […], London: […] R[obert] R[oberts] for Ri[chard] Chiswell, letter V (Travels into Persia), page 266:

Related terms: catch-as-catch-can, get as get can, find as find can, do as do can, have as have can

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for catch-as-catch-can and catch as catch can.