stick the landing
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.24 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
4
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To complete a gymnastic or other athletic routine involving leaps, vaults, somersaults, etc. by landing firmly, solidly, and flawlessly on one's feet.
verb
To complete a process in an impressive and conclusive manner.
Example Sentences
- "When Park came down from his vault, sticking the landing perfectly upright and unwavering, a huge roar went up from the 13,596 spectators."
- "Holland also did many of his own stunts, including his entry flip. Apparently the studio didn't want the 19-year-old to perform the flip, but the directing duo told him to go for it and he stuck the landing."
- "When the Philae lander, released by the comet-chasing Rosetta spacecraft, first tried to touch down on Nov. 12 in an area later named Agilkia, it could not stick the landing. The anchoring harpoons and retro-rockets did not work and the lander bounced off the comet."
- "Still, SpaceX stuck the landing the last time under similar conditions. And now in its quest to launch and recover rockets so that they may be used again, SpaceX is acquiring quite a collection of previously used booster stages."
- "This was a big speech with a high degree of difficulty. And, Don Jr. stuck the landing."
- "In the end, the third season of Fargo stuck the landing so well that its missteps seem more like scars on fine leather than signs of a show in decline."
Etymology
Evidently by metaphor with sticking (placing quickly, thrusting) something quite accurately into a specific place. The term is not specific to aviation: see stick. Thus, this term evidently does not come from a reference to an aircraft's stick (“control stick”). It also does not involve the same metaphor as deadstick landing, whose stick is, originally, a wooden propeller that has lost its engine power.