on a wing and a prayer

(redirected from come (in) on a wing and a prayer)

on a wing and a prayer

With the hope of a positive outcome despite little chance of success. I didn't have time to edit my term paper, so I just submitted it on a wing and a prayer. Businesses in the new mall are opening on a hope and a prayer that customers will start arriving soon.
See also: and, on, prayer, wing
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

*on a wing and a prayer

Fig. to arrive or fly in with one's plane in very bad condition. (Sometimes used fig. of other vehicles. *Typically: come (in) ~; arrive ~.) Finally we could see the plane through the smoke, coming in on a wing and a prayer.
See also: and, on, prayer, wing
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

on a wing and a prayer

If you do something on a wing and a prayer, you do it in the hope that you will succeed, even though you do not have what you need to do it. Dozens of airlines have entered the industry on a wing and a prayer, and dozens have gone bankrupt. In the past, teams have been run on a wing and a prayer. Note: This is the title of a song by H. Adamson, written in 1943, which referred to the emergency landing of an aircraft: `Tho' there's one motor gone, we can still carry on, Comin' In On A Wing And A Pray'r.'
See also: and, on, prayer, wing
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

on a wing and a prayer

with only the slightest chance of success.
This expression comes from the title of a 1943 song by the American songwriter Harold Adamson , ‘Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer’. He himself took it from a contemporary comment made by a wartime pilot speaking to ground control before making an emergency landing.
See also: and, on, prayer, wing
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

on a ˌwing and a ˈprayer

with only a very slight chance of success: He started the business in his own home, on a wing and a prayer, but it looks like he’s really going to make a success of it.This expression was first used in the military to describe how pilots flying very badly damaged planes succeeded in returning to base.
See also: and, on, prayer, wing
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
See also: