It was touch and go there for a while during the operation.
2.
quick action or movement:
the touch and go of city traffic.
Origin
1645-55
touch-and-go
[tuhch-uh n-goh] /ˈtʌtʃ ənˈgoʊ/
adjective
1.
risky; precarious:
a touch-and-go descent down the mountain.
2.
hasty, sketchy, or desultory.
Origin
1805-15
Examples from the web for touch and go
Again and again it was touch and go whether they could get by a given point.
For several days it was touch and go as to whether the people would follow their government in surrender.
It is clear that putting water into these pools to cool them after the accident was touch and go.
British Dictionary definitions for touch and go
touch and go
adjective
1.
(touch-and-go when prenominal) risky or critical: a touch-and-go situation
touch and go in Culture
touch and go definition
Uncertain or precarious: “The doctors told the patient that, even though her disease was in remission, from now on it was touch and go.”
Slang definitions & phrases for touch and go
touch and go
modifier
Possible but very uncertain; precarious: touch and go for a while, until she saw the doctor
Idioms and Phrases with touch and go
touch and go
Extremely uncertain or risky, as in It was touch and go after the surgery; we were not sure he'd survive it, or It was touch and go but they finally gave me a seat on the plane. This idiom implies that a mere touch may cause a calamity. [ Early 1800s ]