odds
odds Lexical Profile
odds Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The probability or likelihood that a particular event or outcome will occur, especially when expressed as a ratio of favorable to unfavorable possibilities.
"The odds of winning the national lottery are extremely low, yet millions of people buy tickets every week."
The ratio between the amounts staked by the parties to a bet, based on the expected probability that a particular outcome will happen.
"The bookmaker offered generous odds of ten to one on the underdog team winning the championship."
The balance of advantage or superiority in a contest, struggle, or difficult situation.
"She overcame overwhelming odds to become the first person in her family to graduate from medical school."
Word Nuance & Usage
"Odds" is a plural-form noun that has no singular counterpart in its statistical or probabilistic sense; it takes a plural verb when referring to betting ratios or advantages (e.g., "the odds are in your favor"), though the phrase "what's the odds" is occasionally heard in informal British English.
• Rhymes for odds
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived in the early 16th century as the plural of the adjective "odd" (from Old Norse "oddi", meaning a point of land, triangle, or third/unequal number), originally referring to inequalities before evolving through gambling to denote the ratio of unequal wagers and general probability.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.