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play it by ear

To do something by guessing, intuition, or trial and error; to react to events as they occur.
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If they ask for something we didn't prepare, we will have to play it by ear.

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Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'play it by ear':

play it by earTo play a song according to how it sounds, rather than from a written score.
Play it by EarTo take ones next move when one is already faced with a situation, to devise or improvise things
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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to play it by ear

play for timeplay it safeplay hookyplay hookeyplay offplay old harryplay offplay hardballplay it straightplay first fiddleplay hob withplay onplay it coolplay for love

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