as in random
lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern
we're always having drop-in guests at our beachfront cottage, and sleeping arrangements tend to be catch-as-catch-can
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Recent Examples of catch-as-catch-can
Here’s the writer Nick Paumgarten trying to drum up a Talk of the Town piece by wandering through the East Village and questioning random New Yorkers about what’s on their minds, a catch-as-catch-can method that, in its way, reflects the magazine’s democratic openness.
—
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 1 Dec. 2025
There’s a certain catch-as-catch-can ephemerality to this work, which tends to appear for quick two- or three-day engagements, sometimes in familiar places—Lincoln Center’s dizzying Festival of Firsts (in the David Rubenstein Atrium, through Oct. 23), for instance—and sometimes farther afield.
—Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
Prison is a kind of black-comedic version of a factory: in contrast to the catch-as-catch-can prisons of preindustrial times, everyone is assigned a role and compelled to conformity through regimentation or isolation.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
The old days of barnstorming teams playing catch-as-catch-can schedules was no longer an acceptable business model.
—Richard Selcer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 June 2024
Cone collection, done by local residents who are paid by the bushel, is a catch-as-catch-can kind of business.
—Lydia Depillis, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 1 Dec. 2025
There’s a certain catch-as-catch-can ephemerality to this work, which tends to appear for quick two- or three-day engagements, sometimes in familiar places—Lincoln Center’s dizzying Festival of Firsts (in the David Rubenstein Atrium, through Oct. 23), for instance—and sometimes farther afield.
—Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025
Prison is a kind of black-comedic version of a factory: in contrast to the catch-as-catch-can prisons of preindustrial times, everyone is assigned a role and compelled to conformity through regimentation or isolation.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024
The old days of barnstorming teams playing catch-as-catch-can schedules was no longer an acceptable business model.
—Richard Selcer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 June 2024
Cone collection, done by local residents who are paid by the bushel, is a catch-as-catch-can kind of business.
—Lydia Depillis, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catch-as-catch-can
Adjective
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The Tennessee Titans went back to the streets quizzing random people in their schedule reveal in a twist to the team’s 2023 schedule reveal.—
Teresa M. Walker,
Chicago Tribune,
15 May 2026
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In 2019, Mohsin went to pick up his mother at her vegetable stand in Nyala, South Darfur, when armed men stormed the area and shot villagers at random.—
Annie Hylton,
New Yorker,
14 May 2026
Adjective
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So how do teams turn scattered tactics into a coherent system?—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
16 May 2026
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In that case, most areas will see scattered rain, but the more robust cells could produce brief, heavy downpours.—
Ahmad Bajjey,
CBS News,
8 May 2026
Adjective
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The case has become one of the most emblematic examples cited by rights organizations accusing Venezuela’s security apparatus of using arbitrary detention, incommunicado imprisonment and forced disappearances against dissidents and suspected opponents.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
18 May 2026
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Her work-from-home job requires her to maintain a minimum internet connection of 65 Mbps in downloads, which is subject to arbitrary testing.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
18 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Catch-as-catch-can.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catch-as-catch-can. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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