catch as catch can

'THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES' からの引用です。

"Never mind. Let me ask you a question. How would you feel if you were a Martian and people came to your land and started tearing it up?"
"I know exactly how I'd feel," said Cheroke. "I've got some Cherokee blood in me. My grandfather told me lots of things about Oklahoma Territory. If ther's a Martian around, I'm all for him."
"What about you other men?" asked Spender carefully.
Nobody answered; their silence was talk enough. Catch as catch can, finder's keepers, if the other fellow turns his cheek slap it hard, etc....
"finder's keepers" は見たことのある表現ですが、"Catch as catch can" は初めてです。いずれにせよ慣用句的なので辞書を見ます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: A situation of using whatever is available.: It seems to me that this is an advantage worth hanging on to, even in this catch-as-catch-can age.

・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms: Done by any means or in any possible way, often haphazardly.: The restaurant was so busy during dinner that getting service was catch as catch can.

・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: using any available means or method: hit-or-miss: a catch-as-catch-can system that relies on borrowed judges
ほとんどの辞書は "catch as catch can" ではなく、ハイフンを使った "catch-as-catch-can" を見出しにしています。