smooth landing
Soft wheels down
A smooth landing is one without jarring impact—an airplane touching down gently, a gymnast sticking the dismount.
The phrase extends to any transition that goes well: After the merger, management ensured a smooth landing for displaced workers.
The opposite is a hard landing or crash landing.
- touchdownSix-point gridiron play
- touch downMake contact with ground
- runwayPaved path for planes
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- final approachLanding's concluding flight path
glide · aircraft · pilot · wheels · arrival · gentle · soft · flawless · approach · cockpit · flight attendant · passengers · applause · round of applause · brakes · tarmac · graceful · controlled
- flightsdeparture, arrival, nonstop flight, boarding, connecting flight
- landingstouchdown, touch and go, controlled descent, splashdown, ditching
- flightflying, fly, flight, aviation, aircraft
- Nailed Itnailed it, crushed it, aced it, slam dunk, hole in one
smooth landingcrash landing
Uncontrolled emergency descent conclusion
hard landing · crash · belly landing · emergency landing · go-around
smooth landingcrash and burn
Fail completely and visibly
disaster · fiasco · bumpy ride · train wreck · catastrophe
smooth, landing, smoothly, smoother, smoothest, smoothness, smoothen, smoothed, smoothing