Dictionary

fly by the seat of one's pants en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To pilot an aircraft without the aid of instruments and without a flight plan, using only instinct, visual observation, and practical judgment.
   • Between world wars, when Douglas Bader was a cocky, teen-age R.A.F. cadet . . . a man could navigate by eye and the nearest railroad track and fly by the seat of his pants. 1955 February 21, “Planes for Pleasure”, in Time:
2. (broadly, idiomatic) To use one's judgment, initiative, and perceptions as events unfold in order to improvise a course of action without a predetermined plan or without the desirable data inputs to decision making.
   • “Unlike Obama and his methodical process, McCain was flying by the seat of his pants,” the authors observe. 2010 January 14, Jacob Heilbrunn, “Election Confidential”, in New York Times, retrieved 25 Jun 2011:

Forms

Relateds

seat-of-the-pants · in flight · pantsing · on the fly · pantser

Synonyms

wing it · make it up as one goes along · play by ear

Translations (15)

pt realizar um voo cego (to pilot an aircraft using only instinct, visual observation, and practical judgment) · fr piloter (to pilot an aircraft using only instinct, visual observation, and practical judgment) · pt improvisar (to improvise a course of action) · fr naviguer à vue (to improvise a course of action) · pt fazer de improviso (to improvise a course of action) · pt fazer o que dá na cabeça (to improvise a course of action) · fr naviguer (to pilot an aircraft using only instinct, visual observation, and practical judgment) · pl pilotować na wyczucie (to pilot an aircraft using only instinct, visual observation, and practical judgment) · fr agir (to improvise a course of action) · pl improwizować (to improvise a course of action) · pt pilotar sem a ajuda de aparelhos (to pilot an aircraft using only instinct, visual observation, and practical judgment) · fr ... à vue (to pilot an aircraft using only instinct, visual observation, and practical judgment) · fr ... au doigt mouillé (to improvise a course of action) · fr décider (to improvise a course of action) · pt fazer com a cara e a coragem (to improvise a course of action)