catch-as-catch-can

US: (kach′əz kach′kan′)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

catch-as-catch-can  (kach′əz kach′kan′), adj. 

1. Also, catch′-can′. taking advantage of any opportunity;
   using any method that can be applied:
   a catch-as-catch-can life, as an itinerant handyman.

adv. 

2. without specific plan or order:
   They lived catch-as-catch-can.

n. 

3. Sport a style of wrestling in which the contestants are permitted to trip, tackle, and use holds below the waist. Cf. Greco-Roman (def. 3).

• 1885–90

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

catch-as-catch-can noun

1. a style of wrestling in which trips, holds below the waist, etc are allowed