| 释义 | ˈtouch and ˈgo, n. and adj. phr.
(Also with hyphens.)
[The vbl. phrase touch and go (touch v. 26) used as n. or adj.]
A. n.
1. The act of touching for an instant and quitting immediately; something done quickly or instantaneously.
1655Moufet & Bennet Health's Impr. (1746) 59 Howsoever we may taste of it to bring on Appetite, let it be but a touch and go.
2. Applied to a person of hasty temper or disposition. nonce-use.
1675T. Duffet Mock Temp. iii. i, Old touch and go, why so hasty?
3. A risky, precarious, delicate, or ticklish case or state of things (such that a mere touch may cause disaster); a narrow escape, ‘close shave’.
1815R. Wardlaw Let. in Alexander Life vi. (1856) 166 'Twas touch and go—but I got my seat. 1831S. E. Ferrier Destiny iv, So it was with Glenroy and his lady. It had been touch-and-go with them for many a day; and now..ended in a threatened separation. 1858C. Hunt in Merc. Marine Mag. V. 84 Passing so close, that it is often a ‘touch and go’. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Touch-and-go, said of anything within an ace of ruin; as in rounding a ship very narrowly to escape rocks, &c., or when, under sail, she rubs against the ground with her keel, without much diminution of her velocity. 1887‘H. Smart’ Cleverly Won iii, She caught [the horse]..by the mane, and though it was touch and go she managed to retain her seat.
B. adj.
1. Involving or characterized by rapid, slight, or superficial execution; sketchy; casual, careless; instantaneous; expeditious.
1812H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr. Pref. 11 There is an art of writing for the Theatre, technically called touch and go,..indispensable when we consider the small quantum of patience which..a London audience can be expected to afford. 1832Moore Mem. (1854) VI. 247 Free to introduce anecdotes, quotations, and all such touch-and-go things as the formality of an essay would not admit of. 1832J. P. Kennedy Swallow B. xii, It was a touch-and-go manner which spoke volumes. 1879Stevenson Trav. Cevennes (1886) 98 In the neighbourhood of women, it is but a touch-and-go association that can be formed amongst defenceless men. 1885M. E. Braddon Wyllard's Weird iv, A murder of that kind must be touch and go—no sooner thought of than done. 1891Spectator 14 Feb. 246/2 They are ‘touch-and-go’ sketches, and impressions such as a clever man may throw off at will.
2. Risky, of the nature of a narrow escape: cf. A. 3.
1856Alexander R. Wardlaw vi. 168 His getting off at all was generally a ‘touch and go’ matter. 1897Blackmore in Blackw. Mag. Sept. 361 Some touch and go adventure he has been through. |
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