Word.ws English Dictionary

no plan survives contact with the enemy

no plan survives contact with the enemy phrase: after a plan against an enemy is drafted, there will be unexpected elements from the opposition that will call for improvisation.

Phrase

no plan survives contact with the enemy

  1. (idiomatic) After a plan against an enemy is drafted, there will be unexpected elements from the opposition that will call for improvisation.
  2. (broadly) Even with a preexisting plan, unexpected circumstances will require one to think on one's feet.
    • ‹"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." Or with a pretty girl in a sundress.›2015, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic), Number 2933: Game Over Man, Game Over

Forms of no plan survives contact with the enemy

alternative formno battle plan survives contact with the enemy
alternative formno battle plan survives first contact with the enemy
alternative formno plan survives first contact with the enemy

Questions about no plan survives contact with the enemy

What does no plan survives contact with the enemy mean?
No plan survives contact with the enemy means after a plan against an enemy is drafted, there will be unexpected elements from the opposition that will call for improvisation.
What part of speech is no plan survives contact with the enemy?
No plan survives contact with the enemy is a phrase.

Words near no plan survives contact with the enemy in the dictionary

  1. no parking whitebeam
  2. no parking whitebeams
  3. no peace for the weary
  4. no picnic
  5. no place
  6. no plan survives contact with the enemy
  7. no plan survives first contact with the enemy
  8. no poo
  9. no pressure
  10. no prize for guessing
  11. no prize pig

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: no plan survives contact with the enemy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-no plan survives contact with the enemy.ogg.

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