: an airplane landing followed immediately by application of power and a takeoff and usually executed as one of a series for practice at landings
: unpredictable as to outcome : uncertain
it was touch and go there for a while
Examples of touch-and-go in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Sean Gentille, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2026
An Orangevale man piloting a Piper Tomahawk was conducting touch-and-go exercises at the airport when the plane’s landing gear failed to engage about 12:23 p.m., Nunez said.
—Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 16 Jan. 2026
Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 17 Feb. 2026
Seafarers used to describe a ship in shallow water that touches bottom from time to time as touch and go, which has been extended to designate any precarious situation.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for touch-and-go
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Noun
This will also be our first chance at watching men's action at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena — but after some touch-and-go moments during the construction process, all signs point to the ice surface being a non-issue.
—Sean Gentille, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2026
An Orangevale man piloting a Piper Tomahawk was conducting touch-and-go exercises at the airport when the plane’s landing gear failed to engage about 12:23 p.m., Nunez said.
—Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 16 Jan. 2026
Adjective
Tesh’s history with intellectual property protections has been touch and go.
—Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 17 Feb. 2026
Seafarers used to describe a ship in shallow water that touches bottom from time to time as touch and go, which has been extended to designate any precarious situation.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for touch-and-go
Cite this Entry
“Touch-and-go.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/touch-and-go. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
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