catch-as-catch-can
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
done or happening in a random or unplanned way
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Được thực hiện hoặc xảy ra một cách ngẫu nhiên hoặc không theo kế hoạch
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: catching whatever one can
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
They organized the event catch-as-catch-can, with no clear plan.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “catch-as-catch-can” mean?
done or happening in a random or unplanned way Literally: catching whatever one can
Is “catch-as-catch-can” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.