touch-and-go

Anything that's touch-and-go is precarious or uncertain. A doctor might gravely describe a patient's prognosis as touch-and-go, meaning that she's not certain whether the patient will recover.

When you hope for a certain outcome but aren't sure whether it will happen, that's a perfect time to use the adjective touch-and-go. If you and your opponent are running neck-and-neck, the student council elections are also touch-and-go. This word most likely comes from a 17th- and 18th-century chasing game similar to tag.

Definitions of touch-and-go

1. adjective

   uncertain or unpredictable in terms of outcome
2. adjective

   fraught with danger
   “dangerous surgery followed by a touch-and-go recovery”

   synonyms: parlous, perilous, precarious

   dangerous, unsafe

   involving or causing danger or risk; liable to hurt or harm