hit-or-miss

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hit-or-miss

(hĭt′ər-mĭs′)

adj.

Marked by a lack of care, accuracy, or organization; random.

hit or miss adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hit′-or-miss′

adj.

careless; inattentive; haphazard.

[1600–10]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.

hit-or-miss - dependent upon or characterized by chance; "a haphazard plan of action"; "his judgment is rather hit-or-miss"

haphazard

random - lacking any definite plan or order or purpose; governed by or depending on chance; "a random choice"; "bombs fell at random"; "random movements"

hit-or-miss

adjective

Having no particular pattern, purpose, organization, or structure:

chance, desultory, haphazard, indiscriminate, random, spot, unplanned.

Translations

hit-or-miss

[ˈhɪtɔːˈmɪs] ADJ → al azar
to have a hit-or-miss way of doing things → hacer las cosas al azar or sin ton ni son
the way she painted the room was rather hit-or-miss → pintó la habitación a la buena de Dios or como Dios le dio a entender
it's all rather hit-or-miss → es todo un poco a la buena de Dios

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

hit-or-miss

[ˈhɪtɔːˈmɪs] adj (approach) → disinvolto/a; (work) → così cosà
the service in this hotel is very hit-or-miss → il servizio in questo albergo lascia a desiderare

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

hit

(hit) – present participle ˈhitting: past tense, past participle hit – verb

1. to (cause or allow to) come into hard contact with. The ball hit him on the head; He hit his head on/against a low branch; The car hit a lamp-post; He hit me on the head with a bottle; He was hit by a bullet; That boxer can certainly hit hard!

2. to make hard contact with (something), and force or cause it to move in some direction. The batsman hit the ball (over the wall).

3. to cause to suffer. The farmers were badly hit by the lack of rain; Her husband's death hit her hard.

4. to find; to succeed in reaching. His second arrow hit the bull's-eye; Take the path across the fields and you'll hit the road; She used to be a famous soprano but she cannot hit the high notes now.

noun

1. the act of hitting. That was a good hit.

2. a point scored by hitting a target etc. He scored five hits.

3. something which is popular or successful. The play/record is a hit; (also adjective) a hit song.

ˌhit-and-ˈrun adjective

1. (of a driver) causing injury to a person and driving away without stopping or reporting the accident.

2. (of an accident) caused by such a driver.

ˌhit-or-ˈmiss adjective

without any system or planning; careless. hit-or-miss methods.

hit back

to hit (someone by whom one has been hit). He hit me, so I hit him back.

hit below the belt

to hit in an unfair way.

hit it off

to become friendly. We hit it off as soon as we met; I hit it off with him.

hit on

to find (an answer etc). We've hit on the solution at last.

hit out (often with againstor at)

to attempt to hit. The injured man hit out blindly at his attackers.

make a hit with

to make oneself liked or approved of by. That young man has made a hit with your daughter.

References in periodicals archive ?

Some of the newly observed flaws might explain why IVF has been so hit-or-miss. The technique may also boost IVF's success rate, some researchers say.

It's a boy! It's a girl! It's a mosaic embryo

which may be viewed as hit-or-miss businesses by the investment community.

"Record sales, television programs and movies may be considered hit-or-miss as revenue generators," Daniels explains, "while items like a film library and music publishing rights are looked on as income generators." Henry Dorshow, director of research at Baltimore-based The Chapman Co.