seat (redirected from seating)

*by the seat of one's pants

Fig. by sheer luck and use of intuition. (*Typically: fly ~; make it ~.) I got through school by the seat of my pants. Pilots who are in fog and using only instruments are flying by the seat of their pants.

See also: pant

grab a chair and grab a seat

Fig. to quickly sit down in a seat. Grab a chair and join the group!

See also: chair, grab

have a seat

to sit down. (Often a polite invitation to sit down.) Have a seat. I'll be with you in a minute.

See also: have

in the catbird seat

Sl. in a dominant or controlling position. Sally's in the catbird seat—telling everybody where to go. I hold all the aces. I'm in the catbird seat.

See also: catbird

in the driver's seat

Fig. in control; in charge of things. (As if one were driving and controlling the vehicle.) Now that Fred is in the driver's seat, there is a lot less criticism about how things are being done. Joan can't wait to get into the driver's seat and do what she can to turn things around.

keep one's chair and keep one's seat

Fig. to stay seated; to remain in one's chair or place. That's all right. Keep your chair. I'll find my own way out. Please keep your seats until after the question-and-answer period.

See also: chair, keep

on the edge of one's seat

Fig. [of a member of an audience] closely following the action and excitement of a performance. We sat on the edge of our seats during the entire play.

See also: edge

on the hot seat and in the hot seat

Fig. in a difficult position; subject to much attention or criticism. I was really in the hot seat for a while. No w that John is on the hot seat, no one is paying any attention to what I do.

See also: hot

show someone to a seat and show one to one's seat

to lead or direct someone to a place to sit. May I show you to your seat, sir? The ushers showed us to our seats politely and efficiently.

See also: show

Take your seat.

Please sit down. (Often plural.) Please take your seats so we can begin.

See also: take

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a ringside seat/view

if you have a ringside seat, you are in a good position to watch what is happening at an event If there's going to be a confrontation between management and the unions, I'd like a ringside seat.

be (sitting) in the catbird seat  (American old-fashioned)

to be in a position of power and importance He'll be sitting in the catbird seat when the boss retires.

See also: catbird

be in the driving seat  (British) also be in the driver's seat (American & Australian)

to be in control of a situation The consumer is in the driving seat due to the huge range of goods on the market.

See fly by the seat of pants

See also: driving

bums on seats  (British & Australian informal) also fannies in the seats (American informal)

if a public performance or a sports event puts bums on seats, many people pay to go and see it This production needs a big name to put bums on seats.

See also: bum

fly by the seat of your pants  (informal)

to do something difficult without the necessary experience or ability (often in continuous tenses) None of us had ever worked on a magazine before so we were flying by the seat of our pants.

See also: fly, pant

in the hot seat  (British, American & Australian) also on the hot seat (American)

in a position where you are responsible for important or difficult things He suddenly found himself in the hot seat, facing a hundred angry residents at a protest meeting. She has been the woman in the hot seat at this company during the last five difficult years. Give me a break -- I've been sitting on the hot seat all morning, fielding phone calls from angry customers!

See hard on heels, hard on the heels of, blow hot and cold, drop like a hot brick

See also: hot

keep somebody on the edge of their seat  (British, American & Australian) also keep somebody on the edge of their chair (American)

if a story keeps you on the edge of your seat, it is very exciting and you want to know what is going to happen next You must rent this video. It keeps you on the edge of your seat right up to the end.

See also: edge, keep

take a back seat 

1. if an activity takes a back seat, you spend less time doing that than other things He's been putting all his energies into house-hunting recently so his studies have had to take a back seat. (sometimes + to ) In my early twenties, politics very much took a back seat to sport and socializing.

2. to let other people take a more active and responsible part in an organization or a situation I was content to take a back seat and let the rest of my family deal with the crisis.

See also: back, take

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fly by the seat of your pants

to do something difficult without the necessary experience or ability None of us had ever worked on a magazine before so we were flying by the seat of our pants.

See also: fly, pant

in the catbird seat

in a position of power or influence Throughout the 1990s, the company was in the catbird seat, with no serious competitors in its field.

See also: catbird

in the driver's seat

in control of a situation Huge consumer demand for electricity has put energy companies in the driver's seat.

Related vocabulary: in the saddle

in the hot seat also on the hot seat

in a difficult position He suddenly found himself in the hot seat, facing angry residents who wanted him to resign.

See also: hot

keep you on the edge of your seat also keep you on the edge of your chair

to make you very excited or nervous because of uncertainty It was one of those movies that was so suspenseful, it kept you on the edge of your seat right through to the end.

See also: edge, keep