oddsn.

Brit.

/ɒdz/, U.S.

/ɑdz/

Forms: 1500s–1600s oddes, 1500s–1600s (1800s– English regional (Cumberland)) ods, 1500s– odds, 1600s odd's, 1600s (1800s– English regional (south-western)) oddses, 1800s– odz (English regional (Herefordshire)), 1800s– odze (English regional (Herefordshire)); Scottish pre-1700 oddes, pre-1700 oddis, pre-1700 odis, pre-1700 ods, pre-1700 oidis, pre-1700 1700s– odds, 1800s– oddses, 1800s– oods (Shetland).

Origin: Apparently formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: odd adj.

Etymology: Apparently use as noun (in plural form) of odd adj.In 16th cent. regularly, and in 17th and 18th cent. usually, construed as a singular, ‘the odds is or was ’; an isolated instance of ‘the odds were ’ appears in 1614, but this construction is unusual before the 19th cent.:1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. v. iii. §15. 522 But whatsoeuer disproportion was betweene the two Armies; farre greater were the oddes betweene the Captaines. The morphologically double form oddses is very rare. The most likely explanation of the change by which the plural of odd came to be taken to express the sense ‘difference’ is that odds first meant ‘unequal things’ (compare news = ‘new things or matters’), a relic of which appears to exist in the phrase ‘to make odds even’ found in quot. ?a1513 at sense 1. But the concept of two odd or unequal things so essentially involves that of the relationship between them that it may easily pass into that of ‘inequality’ or ‘difference’, as it perhaps already did in the phrase in question, and as is fully developed in sense 2. After the sense ‘difference’ was once established, the plural character of the word could be lost sight of, the more easily since in this sense there was no singular in use, nor, from the suggested origin, possible. For other examples of a shift from plural to singular agreement with a morphologically plural noun compare news n., mean n.³, truce n. With sense 4 perhaps compare use of Old Icelandic oddi (see odd adj.) in the singular in standask í odda með to be at odds with.

†1. Odd or uneven things; inequalities. Originally and chiefly in to make odds even and variants: to equalize or level inequalities, to adjust or eradicate differences; to cancel debts (sins, crimes, etc.) from a person's record; to do away with, atone for, remit, or forgive shortcomings and transgressions. Obsolete (poetic in later use).

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > forgiveness > grant forgiveness [verb (intransitive)]

pardon?c1450

to make odds even?a1513

the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > be or become equal [verb (intransitive)]

evenOE

peerc1400

aperea1450

apparagea1450

likea1450

to make odds evena1616

sharea1616

twin1626

size1639

equalize1906

1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. c Than said bernys bald..We sal evin that is od or end in the pane.]

a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 84 Implore, adore, thow indeflore, To mak our oddis evyne.

1570 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xvi. 70 Quhen ȝe forgaif him all his cryme, And maid his oddis euin.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 41 Yet death we feare That makes these oddes, all euen.

1746 T. Blacklock Poems Several Occasions in Poems (1793) 204 If faults acknowledg'd be forgiven, And all our former odds made even, Pray write me soon.

a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) II. 171 Death looks down with nods and smiles, And makes the odds all even.

1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh viii. 349 To sorrow for mankind And even their odds.

1902 R. Kipling Islanders in Times 4 Jan. 9/6 Will ye..lustily even the odds, With nets and hoops and mallets, with racquets and bats and rods?

a. The amount by which one number or quantity differs from another, or by which one thing exceeds or surpasses, or falls short of or below another; amount in excess or defect; difference. Frequently in by odds: by some way (in later use Irish English). Now rare.Cf. by all odds at sense 6b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > relationship between quantities > difference or discrepancy

odds1525

apotome1571

difference1745

absolute error1775

residual1854

error of closure1981

1525 in J. A. Clyde Acta Dominorum Concilii (1943) 130 Of [£400] steirelingis extending to [£600] grete Flemys money with certane oddis.

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke vi. 75 Whiche is by a great oddes higher.

1565 in Cal. State Papers Scotl. (1900) II. 142 [Asking his help in repayment of £120 sterling] and some oddes.

1587 J. Higgins Brennus in Mirror for Magistrates (1946) 278 Within the walles hereof are greater offerings farre by odds: Th'attyre, crownes, scepters, statures, plate and garnish of the Gods.

1605 R. Verstegan Restit. Decayed Intelligence ii. 27 More woords by oddes then thease, may be found.

1640 W. Bridge True Souldiers Convoy 86 What shall weigh downe this odds but prayer?

1671 A. Marvell Let. 6 Apr. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 138 It [sc. a bill] was retaind by the odds of two voices.

1690 A. Shields Short Memorial Sufferings & Grievances Presbyterians Scotl. 34 The number of the slain..amount too about 400 and some odds.

1799 G. Washington Writings (1893) XIV. 234 The cheapest and by odds the most convenient mode.

1837 T. Hood in Comic Ann. 144 At long and last the odds we split.

a1916 J. W. Riley Compl. Wks. (1916) II. 566 The old-fashioned gourd that was sweeter, by odds, Than the goblets of gold at the lips of the gods!

1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 200/2 By odds,..by far. He's better by odds than the other.

†b. The condition or fact of being unequal; disparity in number, amount, or quality; dissimilarity, inequality. at odds: unequal, different. Obsolete (regional in later use).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > inequality > [noun]

unevenness1398

disparagec1430

inequality1531

unequality?1541

odds1542

unequalness?1548

unegalness1561

imparity1563

disparity1597

disequality1602

disparison1609

inadequation1631

inequivalence1879

1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes ii. f. 252^v Augustus..admonyshed his doughter Iulia, to marke what greate difference and oddes there was betwene twoo women of high estate.

1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. Pref. sig. a.iiij^v I am so certaine, thexcellencie of hys actes, and the basenes of my braine to be so far at oddes.

1565 T. Harding Confut. Apol. Church of Eng. ii. iii. f. 49^v Euen among the most blessed Apostles..in likenes of honour there was oddes of power.

1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) ii. i. 139/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I There is an irreconciliable ods betweene them and those of the papists.

1613 M. Ridley Short Treat. Magneticall Bodies To Rdr. sig. A4 Their proportion..being at too great oddes.

1631 T. May Contin. Lucan Contin. vii. 329 Twixt whom and Cæsar was as great an ods Almost, as twixt the Furies and the Gods.

1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iv. xvi. 339 Though there be a manifest odds betwixt the bigness of the Diametre.

1756 M. Calderwood in Scotsman (1884) 13 Dec. 9/6 To see the odds of clergymen in one country from another..entirely puts out bigotry.

1839 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe III. iv. 367 Nature has made little odds among men of mature age as to strength or knowledge.

1854 J. R. Lowell Cambr. 30 Years Ago in Prose Wks. (1890) I. 80 The New England proverb says, ‘All deacons are good, but—there's odds in deacons’.

1863 J. Nicholson Kilwuddie 130 Experience mak's a' the odds betwixt the man an' bairn.

c. Difference in respect of benefit or detriment. Now colloquial in negative and interrogative contexts, esp. in what's the odds?, what odds? (now chiefly Irish English): what does it matter? it makes (also is) no odds: it makes no difference, it doesn't matter; as makes no odds: as makes no difference.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [noun]

diversitya1340

difference1340

variancec1374

distancea1382

unlikenessa1387

variationc1405

discrepation?a1425

distinction1435

severaltyc1449

unlikelinessc1450

dissemblance1463

unlikelihood1483

alteritya1500

indifferencec1503

discrepancea1522

dissimilitude1532

differency1542

variety1552

discernment1570

disparitya1575

discrepancy1579

otherness1587

discernance1592

imparity1608

disanalogy1610

disresemblance1622

dislikeness1623

diff1624

inconformity1625

irresemblance1628

variousness1628

odds1642

disparation1654

aliety1656

disparility1656

disparateness1659

severality1664

nonconformity1672

unconformableness1712

dissimilarity1715

differentness1727

differ1787

allogeneitya1834

otherwiseness1890

otherliness1937

diversion-

the world > relative properties > relationship > identity > the same [phrase] > it makes no difference

it makes (also is) no odds1776

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > be of no importance [phrase] > either way

it makes (also is) no odds1776

what's the odds?1826

as makes no odds1955

1642 D. Rogers Naaman To Rdr. sig. B4 So great the oddes is, in what way a truth be uttered.

1657 W. Morice Coena quasi Κοινὴ Def. xv. 212 Aristippus would have found no odds in dying by the bite of a Lion.

1695 J. Locke Further Considerations conc. Raising Value of Money 102 Whether it be any odds to England.

1776 G. Campbell Philos. of Rhetoric I. i. v. 141 Their being compounded would make no odds.

1787 J. Beattie Scoticisms 64 The omission of a point sometimes makes great odds in the sense.

1826 Sessions Papers 11 Dec. 86/1 I asked Jackson whose they were—he said, ‘What odds; they are mine.’

1840 W. M. Thackeray Shabby Genteel Story ix, in Fraser's Mag. Oct. 410/1 Suppose I do die,..what's the odds? Caroline doesn't care for me.

1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xiii. 165 It makes no odds whether a man has a thousand pounds, or nothing, there.

1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus viii. 94 But there, it's no odds.

1886 W. Besant Children of Gibeon I. i. ix. 201 What's the odds to a working man whether he spells right or wrong?

1923 D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo xvi. 345 That sense of sardonic tolerance, endurance. ‘What's the odds, boys?’

1955 P. M. Young Elgar, O.M. ii. xvii. 288 Elgar's five great marches..were inspired by the spectacular. As near as makes no odds they are the musical counterpart to the Changing of the Guard.

1968 J. D. Carr Papa Là-bas ii. ix. 111 Whether I sideswiped him, or he sideswiped me, is no odds to anybody now.

1973 ‘M. Underwood’ Reward for Defector xxii. 158 What's the difficulty?..Not that it makes any odds.

1982 F. McGuinness Factory Girls iv. 23/1 Do yous all want to come up to our house for tea? Susan'll kill me, but sure what odds.

1998 Seahorse Internat. Sailing Apr. 7/1 The committee..were being offered 15 free boats by Sydney Yachts, or as near to free as makes no odds.

a. Gambling. The ratio between the amounts staked by the parties in a bet, based on the expected probability either way. to lay (also give, offer) odds: to offer a bet with odds favourable to the other party. to take odds: to accept such a bet.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > bet [verb (intransitive)] > offer favourable odds

to lay (also give, offer) odds1560

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [noun] > odds

odds1748

price1829

betting1901

line1964

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > bet [verb (intransitive)] > accept a bet

to take odds1845

1560 T. Churchyard Surreioindre vnto Camels Reioindre in Contention bettwyxte Churchyeard & Camell 110 Vnder those fayr angels loks is hyd a deuelish minde I durst lay oddes who trust you long, ful false he shall you finde.

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. v. 103 I wil lay ods, that ere this yeere expire, We beare our ciuil swords..As farre as France.

1637 J. Shirley Hide Parke iv. sig. G4 Fa. Forty pounds to thirty. Lo. Done, done, Ile take all oddes.

1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard Hist. Life Duke of Espernon i. iv. 156 He was so confident of his skill, as to offer odds, that..he would either kill the Duke of Espernon, or very much endanger his life.

1748 Whitehall Evening-post 13–15 Sept. The Odds, at starting, were on Babram.

1764 T. Bayes in Philos. Trans. 1763 (Royal Soc.) 53 410 There would be the odds of the millioneth power of 2 to one.

1817 J. Austen Sanditon v, in Minor Wks. (1954) 385 Now, if he were here, I know he would be offering odds that either Susan, Diana or Arthur would appear..to have been at the point of death within the last month.

1845 B. Disraeli Sybil I. i. i. 1 ‘I'll take the odds against Caravan.’ ‘In poneys?’ ‘Done.’

1871 R. H. Hutton Ess. (1877) I. 48 A game of chance where the odds are a hundred to one against you.

1904 J. London Sea-wolf xxiv. 218 ‘I'll lay odds of five to one it's the Macedonia.’ No one accepted his offer.

1915 J. Buchan Thirty-nine Steps x. 248 The odds were a thousand to one that I might have..missed it.

1967 A. MacLean Where Eagles Dare vi. 118 Briefly and bleakly he wondered what odds any reasonable bookmaker would have given against their chances of reaching the castle.

1990 Accountancy Mar. 78/1 Most bets are made on the basis of odds quoted shortly before a race, or at starting prices.

2001 Sunday Mail (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 25 Mar. Bookies are set to offer the stingiest odds ever laid on the General Election after taking a pounding from punters in the 1997 poll.

b. to shout the odds: to call out the odds offered on contenders in a race or competition; (hence, in extended use) to talk or opine loudly or aggressively (about something).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > be talkative [verb (intransitive)] > talk excessively or chatter > with strong feeling

noise?a1425

rave1716

gnatter1826

gush1864

to shout the odds1894

rant1908

steamroller1969

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > bet [verb (intransitive)] > call odds

to shout the odds1894

rort1931

1894 G. Moore Esther Waters xxxii. 262 He shouted the odds, willing to bet against every horse, distributed tickets to the various folk that crowded round him.

1895 Times 10 Jan. 3/3 The defendants and others made prices on the horses and shouted out the odds as upon a racecourse.

1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 257 To shout the odds, to talk too much: to brag: to grumble.

1958 F. Norman Bang to Rights i. 10 He was still shouting the odds about this blag which was..nothing but a dirty great romance.

1960 L. Cooper Accomplices ii. i. 76 There are always a few bloody fools who shout the odds about British justice and fair trials.

1967 Sunday Times 15 Oct. 9 For years he's shouted the odds about the Scouse way of life.

1973 ‘J. Patrick’ Glasgow Gang Observed xv. 131 He still shouts the odds fae the windae when there's a ba'le [sc. battle] oan. ‘Get right intae it, Tim,’ he says.

1990 European 11 May 19/1 Mr Morton is one of nature's high-profile individuals, thumping the table and shouting the odds.

1991 D. Dixon Prohibition to Regulation iii. 91 By the early 1890s, bookmakers could stay within the law only by moving around the enclosure as they shouted the odds.

4. Disagreement, conflict, variance, strife; = difference n.¹ 3. Now only in at odds (with): in conflict or at variance (with).

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > dissent > [noun]

unsibeOE

unsaughta1122

un-i-sibc1275

conteckc1290

discordingc1325

distancec1325

discordance1340

dissensionc1384

batea1400

discordc1425

variancec1425

variationc1485

disgreement?1504

distinction1520

factiona1538

jar1546

variety1546

disagreeance1548

disagreeing1548

disagreement1548

misliking1564

odds1567

mislikea1586

discordancy1587

disagree1589

distancy1595

dissent1596

dislike1598

secting1598

dichostasy1606

fraction1609

dissentation1623

ill blood1624

misintelligence1632

clashing1642

misunderstanding1642

discomposure1659

disjointinga1715

uneasiness1744

friction1760

misunderstand1819

unharmony1866

inharmony1867

trouble at (the or t') mill1967

1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) vii. f. 85 Medea found a shift To feyne that Iason and hir selfe were falne at oddes in wroth.

1592 R. Greene Pandosto (new ed.) sig. Bij A compacted knauery..to bring the king and him at oddes.

1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. 9 The father..findeth so great fault with them for their oddes and iarring.

1621 R. Montagu Diatribæ Hist. Tithes 393 These two great Dichotomisers, being at odds with all others, and with themselues.

1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. i. xiv. 26 In Germany, they..fell to oddes principally about the Sacrament of the last Supper.

1694 P. A. Motteux Wks. from Rabelais (1737) iv. xxix. 121 Enemies; against whom he is eternally at odds.

1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 130 I was in the greatest Confusion imaginable..; and began to be at odds with myself whether to be glad or sorry.

1765 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VIII. x. 30 About which your reverences have so often been at odds with one another.

1850 R. W. Emerson Montaigne in Representative Men iv. 171 The superior mind will find itself equally at odds with the evils of society.

1873 R. Browning Red Cotton Night-cap Country iii. 155 Old folk and young folk, still at odds, of course!

1926 H. O. Osgood So this is Jazz 98 Leading philologists of the jazz world are at odds over the correct spelling of the name.

1954 C. R. Attlee As it Happened xvi. 139 He had been at odds with the Conservative Party and was thus free from the taint of Munich.

1987 Smithsonian Aug. 136/2 Until they can make that one-percent risk appear vanishingly small rather than parlously large, science and society will continue to find themselves at odds.

2000 N.Y. Times 13 July f7/2 The [park's] design is inappropriate to the 19th-century buildings.., and at odds with the vastly more sensitive treatment of other recent minipark reclamations.

a. Difference in favour of one of two contending parties; balance of advantage; superiority in strength, power, resources, etc. †with odds: with the balance of advantage for or against one (obsolete). against the (also all, any) odds: against the (also all, any) opposition; despite whatever obstacles there may be.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > [noun] > advantage over another > balance of, between parties

odds?1575

?1575 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. (new ed.) Ep. Ded. sig. ij I was constrained with too much oddes, to endure combat with both these furious spirites.

1587 J. Higgins Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) Albanacte xxxviii At home, with oddes, they durst not byde the stroke.

1608 G. Chapman Conspiracie Duke of Byron ii. sig. D3 His spirits haue flowd so high, In all his conflicts against any odds, That (in his charge) his lips haue bled with feruor.

a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) i. ii. 148 You wil take little delight in it,..there is such oddes in the man.

1621 J. Fletcher et al. Trag. of Thierry & Theodoret ii. i. sig. E3 Pray you let me take it vp, and if I do not Against all ods of armor and of weapons, With this make him confesse it on his knees, Cut off my head.

1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads xx. 136 Nor does it need; so much we have the ods.

1709 J. Swift Let. conc. Sacramental Test 15 There appeared at least Four to One Odds against them.

1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xvi. 194 At any weapons, against any odds, I will prove him a traitor.

1787 J. P. Kemble Pilgrim iv. ii. 46 Did it look noble to be o'erlaid with odds? Did it seem manly in a multitude to oppress you?

1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto VIII cvi. 164 The truly brave, When they behold the brave oppressed with odds, Are touched with a desire to shield and save.

1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 259 The odds were now greatly in their favour.

1846 N. Brit. Rev. Nov. 131 If ever there was an age of chivalry it was then, when men fought against all odds in a high and holy cause.

1883 J. Payn Thicker than Water (1884) xxxviii. 306 That courage of his opinions which he never failed to display against any odds.

1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 818/2 Against overwhelming odds the United States troops held out until honour was satisfied.

1921 Amer. Woman Jan. 3/1 I have been putting up a hard fight, for a time seemingly against all odds.

1939 Fortune Nov. 28/2 The National Guard would have you know that it is a much abused and neglected body carrying on in the face of vast odds.

1971 ‘G. Charles’ Destiny Waltz x. 428 He had held out for the best and—against all the odds—had got it.

1998 E. Brimson Hooligan xlvii. 128 The police loved dishing it out when the odds were in their favour.

b. Equalizing advantage given to a weaker side or competitor. Also in extended use.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > judging or umpiring > [noun] > allowance or handicap

odds1591

handicap1849

penalty1885

1591 J. Florio Second Frutes 73 A.: What aduantage or oddes will you giue me? S.: None at all: why should I giue you oddes? A.: Because you play better than I.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II i. i. 62 Which to maintaine, I would allow him ods, And meete him were I tied to runne afoote, Euen to the frozen ridges of the Alpes.

1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. xx. 346 Warre is a game wherein very often that side loseth which layeth the oddes.

1709 W. Congreve tr. Ovid Art of Love iii, in Wks. (1710) III. 1003 Unequal Force against a naked Foe: No Glory from such Conquest can be gain'd, And Odds are always by the Brave disdain'd.

1725 N. Bailey tr. Erasmus All Familiar Colloquies 41 There's no great Honour in getting a Victory, when odds is taken.

1808 J. H. Sarratt Treat. Game of Chess I. 2 The player who gives odds has always the advantage of the move; except, of course, in those games where the move is also given to the inferior player.

1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well II. vi, in Waverley Novels (1832) 90 You have played on the square with me; nay, more—I am bound to allow you have given me great odds.

1877 Rep. Comm. Plan for Govt. Cities N.Y. in J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. (1888) II. li. 284 Each side feels that it cannot allow any odds to the other.

1975 Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 830/1 Both [players], in the true tennis tradition, made money by accepting challenges to play matches against odds.

1992 Oxf. Compan. Chess (ed. 2) 166/2 Other frequently found odds are giving the exchange, knight, rook, or queen.

†c. Superior position, advantage; esp. in to take odds of: to take advantage of. Similarly to have the odds of (a person). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > advantage > an opportunity > give opportunity for [verb (transitive)] > take (opportunity)

catchc1425

to take‥vantage (of)1573

apprehend1586

to take odds of1596

to catch at ——1610

feea1616

seize1618

nick1634

to jump at1769

the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > [noun] > advantage over another

privilegec1390

advantagec1405

vantage1523

overmatch1542

odds1596

pull1781

1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. ii. sig. Aa5 Vnarm'd all was the knight..Whereof he taking oddes, streight bids him dight Himselfe to yeeld his loue.

1628 T. Hobbes tr. Thucydides Peloponnesian War (1822) 94 When..we come to undertake any danger we have this odds by it.

1675 W. Wycherley Country-wife ii. 23 I may draw now, since we have the odds of him.

1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies I. p. xvi I am not ignorant of the great Odds that the Bishop had of me, both in Education and Capacity.

1750 J. Nelson Jrnl. (1836) 23 I have the odds of you, for I have a much worse opinion of myself than you can have.

1861 J. A. Nunes Fast Folks ii. v. 38 Ulysses gains no odds of me! While I can safely boast a right which Homer never gave the sage!

d. Chiefly U.S. regional. to ask (formerly †beg) no odds: to desire no advantage; to seek no favours or special consideration. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > dueness or propriety > [verb (intransitive)] > put forward a claim > seek no favour

to ask (formerly beg) no odds1806

1806 Baltimore Evening Post 5 Mar. 2/2 in R. H. Thornton Amer. Gloss. (1912) 620 No odds he begs Of any beast that walks upon four legs.

1834 Vermont Free Press 7 June A Varmounter never uses a dog... Give him a gun, and he asks no odds.

1857 H. C. Kimball in B. Young et al. Jrnl. Discourses V. 32/2 I ask no odds of them, no more than I do of the dirt I walk on.

1894 Congress. Rec. 29 May 5447/1 South Dakota asks no odds of any State of the Union.

1898 E. N. Westcott David Harum xiv. 128 I want to see how long it'll take to git all over the village that he didn't ask no odds o' nobody.

1995 Visit'n (Vermont Folklife Center) 29 They did for themselves and they didn't ask any odds of anyone.

e. colloquial. over (also above) the odds: past the limit; more than is generally considered acceptable; (now) esp. above the usual price or rate.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > excessive amount or degree > excessively [phrase] > exceeding stated limit

over the limit1872

over (also above) the odds1908

1908 Bulletin (Sydney) 10 Dec. 20/3 I shouldn't so much mind if there was any truth in it, but to be bounced by a pair o' plucked pigeons like them two chaps is a bit over the odds.

1918 C. Fetherstonhaugh After Many Days 205 Another bit of slang that originated at Gayndesh was ‘the dead finish’. Now it is ‘the limit’ or ‘above the odds’.

1930 ‘Sapper’ Finger of Fate 103 To be called a damned Englishman by Pedro Gonsalvez is a bit over the odds.

1972 Which? Feb. 50/1 You could even pay more than the list prices. We found some of the tools being sold for perhaps a pound or so over the odds.

1989 L. Underwood One's Company (BNC) 92 Never borrow money from a moneylender..who charges interest way above the odds.

2000 Big Issue 20 Mar. 17/1 In the vague belief that organic food is better for the environment as well as being good for them, they happily pay over the odds.

a. The chances or balance of probability in favour of something happening or being the case; probability, likelihood. Now usually in (the) odds are: the likelihood is. it is odds (that, †but): it is probable; the likelihood is (now rare).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > be likely [phrase]

as (it) is likely1395

it is likely1395

it is odds (that, but)1589

(the) odds are1697

looks like?1746

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > [noun] > balance of probability

odds1589

1589 J. Lyly Pappe with Hatchet sig. E3^v Tis ods but that I shall thrust thee through the buckler into the brain.

1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 126 If a Man watch too long, it is odds he will fall asleepe.

1650 Bp. J. Taylor Rule & Exercises Holy Living iv. §7. 301 It is infinite oddes but he will quench the Spirit.

1697 J. Dryden Ded. Georgics in tr. Virgil Wks. sig. ¶2^v The Odds are against him that he loses.

1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 158 It was a Million to one odds, that ever he could have been relieved.

1748 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 29 Oct. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1252 It is odds but you touch somebody or other's sore place.

1755 T. Smollett tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote I. i. ii. 49 For..'tis odds, but they..have us apprehended: and verily, if they do, before we get out of prison, we may chance to sweat for it.

1761 G. Colman Jealous Wife ii. 21 What a damned Piece of Work have I made on't!—I..shall lose my Match, and as to Harriot, why, the Odds are that I lose my Match there too.

1797 T. Park Sonnets 86 'Tis odds that you escape the spatters.

1802 G. Colman Poor Gentleman (new ed.) v. iii. 77 We are on the ground first... What are the odds now, that he doesn't wing me?

1815 C. North Clara iii. iii, in Orig. Poems & Play 127 If it had not been for me, and my Lord Valmonsor, who rode in among them, I think it is odds but they had torn her into a thousand pieces.

1847 T. De Quincey Spanish Mil. Nun viii. 17 It was odds but she had first embarked upon this billowy life from the literal Bay of Biscay.

1859 C. J. Lever Davenport Dunn xlvi The odds are, he'd pull me up pretty sharp for doing so without his authority.

1887 R. Reece May ii. 27 When the stripling wrestler gets a fall from a well-knit master of the game, the odds are that the elder man wins by superior weight.

1915 A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear i. iii. 48 If he goes by road with his legs all dripping, it's odds that someone will notice him.

1947 D. M. Davin Gorse blooms Pale 204 With the Jerries rocking on their heels the way they were the odds were they'd have taken the count before he got back.

1986 J. Batten Judges v. 209 Odds are that the story is apocryphal.

2001 Nat. Health Oct. 62/3 If you go in tired, burdened and concerned, the odds are that life will look decidedly different when you emerge.

b. North American. by all odds: certainly, undoubtedly, by any reckoning.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > greatly or very much [phrase] > to a great extent or by far

great quantityc1330

far forthly1362

by farc1380

well awayc1390

by half?a1400

by mucha1450

far (and) away1546

by a great sort1579

to stand head and shoulders abovea1683

(by) a long way1741

by a jugful1831

by all odds1832

by a long, damn, etc., sight1834

out and away1834

(by) a long chalk1835

by chalks1835

by long chalks1835

by a street1886

a whole lot1886

1832 J. K. Paulding Westward Ho! II. xi. 113 He first compared Aristotle and the Stagyrite in philosophy, giving it as his opinion that the latter was the deeper of the two by all odds.

1850 E. A. Poe Thou art Man in Wks. II. 420 You are, by all odds, the heartiest old fellow I ever came across in all my born days.

1866 W. D. Howells Venetian Life 50 By all odds, the loungers at Florian's were the most interesting.

1898 E. N. Westcott David Harum iii. 25 Dinner is by all odds the chief event of the day on board ship to those who are able to dine.

1943 Internat. Jrnl. Relig. Educ. Apr. 14/1 By all odds the most significant function of the church ought to be its service in the immediate community where it is located.

1951 J. P. Marquand Melville Goodwin x. 163 Lee said that McClellan was the best Union general he fought against by all odds.

1974 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 18 July w1/1 They're the Montrealaise, by all odds the most stylish women in North America.

1992 Gallerie: Women Artists' Monographs Dec. 63 By all odds, I should not be here today. As a child I knew hunger, welfare homes, [etc.].

a. odds and ends n. (also †odds on ends) odd fragments or remnants; miscellaneous articles or things; bits and pieces. Cf. end n. 5. [Probably an alteration of odd ends, found in same sense much earlier (see odd adj. 8a).]

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [noun] > miscellaneous things

short end1560

threads and thrums1600

varieties1624

giblet1638

thrum1648

scrip-scrap1711

sundries1711

odds and ends1761

oddment1821

odd-come-short1836

what-nota1861

flotsam1861

odds and sods1921

odds and bobs1957

a1740 J. Brereton Poems (1744) 46 'Tis a kind of a Patchwork; I own amongst Friends, A new sort of Sonnet of Odds and of Ends... Cou'd I manage my Odds, and Ends, to account, Like a Piece of Patchwork I've seen at the Mount.

?1746 ‘T. Bobbin’ View Lancs. Dial. Gloss. Odds-on-eends, odd things.]

1761 G. Colman Jealous Wife iv. 74 He pieces out the Matter with Maxims, and Scraps of Philosophy, and Odds and Ends of Sentences.

1779 G. Keate Sketches from Nature (ed. 2) I. 51 'Tis but unstrapping my chaise trunk, laying out my odds and ends, and the affair is over.

1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto III lxxxiii. 44 Having pick'd up several odds and ends Of free thoughts.

1852 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 193 There are still some odds and ends for the carpenter to do.

1876 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Tom Sawyer xxxv. 270 He had just breakfasted upon some stolen odds and ends of food.

1903 J. London Call of Wild v. 130 Charles and Hal put the last odds and ends on top of the mountainous load.

1950 R. Davies At Heart's Core 4 She wears a loose gown and moccasins, and has a few odds and ends of ill-chosen adornment.

1977 T. Heald Just Desserts i. 10 You know he was one of ours?.. Provided us with information, tip-offs, odds and ends.

2001 New Yorker 16 Apr. 16/2 Kitschy collages assembled from odds and ends..salvaged by the artist from the streets of Los Angeles.

b. British colloquial odds and sods n. (originally Services' slang) miscellaneous people or (later) articles; (subsequently, more generally) odds and ends.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [noun] > miscellaneous things

short end1560

threads and thrums1600

varieties1624

giblet1638

thrum1648

scrip-scrap1711

sundries1711

odds and ends1761

oddment1821

odd-come-short1836

what-nota1861

flotsam1861

odds and sods1921

odds and bobs1957

1921 Notes & Queries 26 Nov. 424/1 Odds and sods, details attached to Batt[alion] H.Q., e.g. sanitary men.

1930 J. Brophy & E. Partridge Songs & Slang Brit. Soldier: 1914–1918 143 Odds and Sods, ‘details’ attached to Battalion Headquarters for miscellaneous offices: batmen, sanitary men, professional footballers and boxers on nominal duties, etc.

a1935 T. E. Lawrence Mint (1955) ii. ix. 125 Ten minutes late for dinner. Odds and sods to eat.

1950 G. Wilson Brave Company xiii. 193 Add three-inch mortar, four-point-two inch mortar, Vickers and all the odds and sods.

1955 E. Waugh Officers & Gentlemen i. vi. 64 They left me behind with the other odds and sods.

1975 Time Out 26 Sept. 57/4 Although Tolkien's planned preface to the poems was never realised, his son Christopher has created one mostly out of his father's odds and sods—a radio talk plus notes.

1993 Caves & Caving Winter 14/2 A few odds and sods of new passage have been found.

c. British colloquial odds and bobs n. odds and ends, bits and bobs (see bits and bobs at bit n.² and adj.² Phrases 1c(a)(ii)).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [noun] > miscellaneous things

short end1560

threads and thrums1600

varieties1624

giblet1638

thrum1648

scrip-scrap1711

sundries1711

odds and ends1761

oddment1821

odd-come-short1836

what-nota1861

flotsam1861

odds and sods1921

odds and bobs1957

1957 R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy v. 120 The shop window was an indiscriminate tangle of odds-and-bobs at coppers each.

1977 D. Clark Gimmel Flask iv. 70 A mixed lot of glass..odds and bobs collected from round a house.

1996 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 3 Mar. 12 [The play] settles for easy jokes and odds and bobs of farce.

Compounds

C1. General attributive (in sense 3).

odds-giver n.

ΚΠ

1875 in City of London Chess Mag. (1876) 2 15 The odds giver, finding the receiver thus coached up by us, may try to entrap him by playing 4 P to Q Kt 4.

1892 Daily News 12 Sept. 3/4 Singularly enough the odds-giver was never in the race.

1981 Jrnl. Conflict Resol. 25 191 Three groups of experts: the official track handicappers, the odds-givers of the Daily Racing Forum, [etc.].

2014 Managem. Today Dec. 32/1 In fourth place, the Emerald Isle's favourite odds-giver, Paddy Power, puts in its best ever BMAC performance.

oddsmaker n.

ΚΠ

1931 Coshocton (Ohio) Tribune 9 Dec. 6/1 Samuel Insull, too, was a good odds maker, holding Smith at something like 6 to 1.

1994 ArtNews Feb. 47/1 The 30-year-old sculptor Rachel Whiteread..confirmed most oddsmakers' forecasts here by becoming the first woman to win the award.

2013 J. H. Sherman Bloodline Chron. 234 There were these two boys arguing with the oddsmaker over whether or not they were old enough to enter the fights.

odds receiver n. Chess

ΚΠ

1875 in City of London Chess Mag. 2 (1876) 15 Our friend the odds receiver will see that we are chary of bringing our Queen out early.

1900 Westm. Gaz. 21 Apr. 3/3 We have played games by the hundred giving the odds of the QR, and have invariably made use of the right of castling QR without the least objection from the odds receiver.

1962 Chess Rev. Sept. 258/3 Black could probably—but not by any method to be expected of an odds-receiver—escape. He took the Black Pawn with his King.

2000 P. J. Tamburro Learn Chess from Greats 142/1 The odds receiver gets so convinced that the king is invincible that the wager is easily sent to double or nothing when the odds giver sarcastically says that he can beat the lone king.

C2.

odds ratio n. Statistics a ratio of two probabilities, used chiefly as a measure of the comparative probability of an event occurring under control and experimental conditions.

ΚΠ

1945 H. A. Freeman et al. Sequential Anal. Statist. Data: Applic. §3. 23 (heading) The odds ratio.

1955 C. M. Woolf Investig. Genetic Aspects Carcinoma of Stomach & Breast 306 The slope (s) and the intercepts (—h₁ + h₂) of the parallel lines were computed from four values: u₁, the odds ratio below which we say that no familial tendency exists for breast cancer; [etc.].

1958 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. B. 20 222 The problem of getting a simple method of calculating limits for the odds-ratio in a 2 × 2 table is of intrinsic interest.

1990 Internat. Jrnl. Epidemiol. 19 872/2 Odds ratios were calculated as estimates of relative risk of cancer for ginseng ‘ever taken’ versus ‘never taken’ by the cases and controls.

2006 L. S. Meyers et al. Appl. Multivariate Res. vi. 230 Obtaining the odds ratio is one of the important objectives in logistic regression.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	odds
释义	oddsn. Brit. /ɒdz/, U.S. /ɑdz/ Forms: 1500s–1600s oddes, 1500s–1600s (1800s– English regional (Cumberland)) ods, 1500s– odds, 1600s odd's, 1600s (1800s– English regional (south-western)) oddses, 1800s– odz (English regional (Herefordshire)), 1800s– odze (English regional (Herefordshire)); Scottish pre-1700 oddes, pre-1700 oddis, pre-1700 odis, pre-1700 ods, pre-1700 oidis, pre-1700 1700s– odds, 1800s– oddses, 1800s– oods (Shetland). Origin: Apparently formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: odd adj. Etymology: Apparently use as noun (in plural form) of odd adj.In 16th cent. regularly, and in 17th and 18th cent. usually, construed as a singular, ‘the odds is or was ’; an isolated instance of ‘the odds were ’ appears in 1614, but this construction is unusual before the 19th cent.:1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. v. iii. §15. 522 But whatsoeuer disproportion was betweene the two Armies; farre greater were the oddes betweene the Captaines. The morphologically double form oddses is very rare. The most likely explanation of the change by which the plural of odd came to be taken to express the sense ‘difference’ is that odds first meant ‘unequal things’ (compare news = ‘new things or matters’), a relic of which appears to exist in the phrase ‘to make odds even’ found in quot. ?a1513 at sense 1. But the concept of two odd or unequal things so essentially involves that of the relationship between them that it may easily pass into that of ‘inequality’ or ‘difference’, as it perhaps already did in the phrase in question, and as is fully developed in sense 2. After the sense ‘difference’ was once established, the plural character of the word could be lost sight of, the more easily since in this sense there was no singular in use, nor, from the suggested origin, possible. For other examples of a shift from plural to singular agreement with a morphologically plural noun compare news n., mean n.³, truce n. With sense 4 perhaps compare use of Old Icelandic oddi (see odd adj.) in the singular in standask í odda með to be at odds with. †1. Odd or uneven things; inequalities. Originally and chiefly in to make odds even and variants: to equalize or level inequalities, to adjust or eradicate differences; to cancel debts (sins, crimes, etc.) from a person's record; to do away with, atone for, remit, or forgive shortcomings and transgressions. Obsolete (poetic in later use). ΘΚΠ society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > forgiveness > grant forgiveness [verb (intransitive)] pardon?c1450 to make odds even?a1513 the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > be or become equal [verb (intransitive)] evenOE peerc1400 aperea1450 apparagea1450 likea1450 to make odds evena1616 sharea1616 twin1626 size1639 equalize1906 1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. c Than said bernys bald..We sal evin that is od or end in the pane.] a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 84 Implore, adore, thow indeflore, To mak our oddis evyne. 1570 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xvi. 70 Quhen ȝe forgaif him all his cryme, And maid his oddis euin. a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 41 Yet death we feare That makes these oddes, all euen. View more context for this quotation 1746 T. Blacklock Poems Several Occasions in Poems (1793) 204 If faults acknowledg'd be forgiven, And all our former odds made even, Pray write me soon. a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) II. 171 Death looks down with nods and smiles, And makes the odds all even. 1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh viii. 349 To sorrow for mankind And even their odds. 1902 R. Kipling Islanders in Times 4 Jan. 9/6 Will ye..lustily even the odds, With nets and hoops and mallets, with racquets and bats and rods? 2. a. The amount by which one number or quantity differs from another, or by which one thing exceeds or surpasses, or falls short of or below another; amount in excess or defect; difference. Frequently in by odds: by some way (in later use Irish English). Now rare.Cf. by all odds at sense 6b. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > relationship between quantities > difference or discrepancy odds1525 apotome1571 difference1745 absolute error1775 residual1854 error of closure1981 1525 in J. A. Clyde Acta Dominorum Concilii (1943) 130 Of [£400] steirelingis extending to [£600] grete Flemys money with certane oddis. 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke vi. 75 Whiche is by a great oddes higher. 1565 in Cal. State Papers Scotl. (1900) II. 142 [Asking his help in repayment of £120 sterling] and some oddes. 1587 J. Higgins Brennus in Mirror for Magistrates (1946) 278 Within the walles hereof are greater offerings farre by odds: Th'attyre, crownes, scepters, statures, plate and garnish of the Gods. 1605 R. Verstegan Restit. Decayed Intelligence ii. 27 More woords by oddes then thease, may be found. 1640 W. Bridge True Souldiers Convoy 86 What shall weigh downe this odds but prayer? 1671 A. Marvell Let. 6 Apr. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 138 It [sc. a bill] was retaind by the odds of two voices. 1690 A. Shields Short Memorial Sufferings & Grievances Presbyterians Scotl. 34 The number of the slain..amount too about 400 and some odds. 1799 G. Washington Writings (1893) XIV. 234 The cheapest and by odds the most convenient mode. 1837 T. Hood in Comic Ann. 144 At long and last the odds we split. a1916 J. W. Riley Compl. Wks. (1916) II. 566 The old-fashioned gourd that was sweeter, by odds, Than the goblets of gold at the lips of the gods! 1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 200/2 By odds,..by far. He's better by odds than the other. †b. The condition or fact of being unequal; disparity in number, amount, or quality; dissimilarity, inequality. at odds: unequal, different. Obsolete (regional in later use). ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > inequality > [noun] unevenness1398 disparagec1430 inequality1531 unequality?1541 odds1542 unequalness?1548 unegalness1561 imparity1563 disparity1597 disequality1602 disparison1609 inadequation1631 inequivalence1879 1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes ii. f. 252^v Augustus..admonyshed his doughter Iulia, to marke what greate difference and oddes there was betwene twoo women of high estate. 1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. Pref. sig. a.iiij^v I am so certaine, thexcellencie of hys actes, and the basenes of my braine to be so far at oddes. 1565 T. Harding Confut. Apol. Church of Eng. ii. iii. f. 49^v Euen among the most blessed Apostles..in likenes of honour there was oddes of power. 1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) ii. i. 139/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I There is an irreconciliable ods betweene them and those of the papists. 1613 M. Ridley Short Treat. Magneticall Bodies To Rdr. sig. A4 Their proportion..being at too great oddes. 1631 T. May Contin. Lucan Contin. vii. 329 Twixt whom and Cæsar was as great an ods Almost, as twixt the Furies and the Gods. 1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iv. xvi. 339 Though there be a manifest odds betwixt the bigness of the Diametre. 1756 M. Calderwood in Scotsman (1884) 13 Dec. 9/6 To see the odds of clergymen in one country from another..entirely puts out bigotry. 1839 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe III. iv. 367 Nature has made little odds among men of mature age as to strength or knowledge. 1854 J. R. Lowell Cambr. 30 Years Ago in Prose Wks. (1890) I. 80 The New England proverb says, ‘All deacons are good, but—there's odds in deacons’. 1863 J. Nicholson Kilwuddie 130 Experience mak's a' the odds betwixt the man an' bairn. c. Difference in respect of benefit or detriment. Now colloquial in negative and interrogative contexts, esp. in what's the odds?, what odds? (now chiefly Irish English): what does it matter? it makes (also is) no odds: it makes no difference, it doesn't matter; as makes no odds: as makes no difference. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [noun] diversitya1340 difference1340 variancec1374 distancea1382 unlikenessa1387 variationc1405 discrepation?a1425 distinction1435 severaltyc1449 unlikelinessc1450 dissemblance1463 unlikelihood1483 alteritya1500 indifferencec1503 discrepancea1522 dissimilitude1532 differency1542 variety1552 discernment1570 disparitya1575 discrepancy1579 otherness1587 discernance1592 imparity1608 disanalogy1610 disresemblance1622 dislikeness1623 diff1624 inconformity1625 irresemblance1628 variousness1628 odds1642 disparation1654 aliety1656 disparility1656 disparateness1659 severality1664 nonconformity1672 unconformableness1712 dissimilarity1715 differentness1727 differ1787 allogeneitya1834 otherwiseness1890 otherliness1937 diversion- the world > relative properties > relationship > identity > the same [phrase] > it makes no difference it makes (also is) no odds1776 the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > be of no importance [phrase] > either way it makes (also is) no odds1776 what's the odds?1826 as makes no odds1955 1642 D. Rogers Naaman To Rdr. sig. B4 So great the oddes is, in what way a truth be uttered. 1657 W. Morice Coena quasi Κοινὴ Def. xv. 212 Aristippus would have found no odds in dying by the bite of a Lion. 1695 J. Locke Further Considerations conc. Raising Value of Money 102 Whether it be any odds to England. 1776 G. Campbell Philos. of Rhetoric I. i. v. 141 Their being compounded would make no odds. 1787 J. Beattie Scoticisms 64 The omission of a point sometimes makes great odds in the sense. 1826 Sessions Papers 11 Dec. 86/1 I asked Jackson whose they were—he said, ‘What odds; they are mine.’ 1840 W. M. Thackeray Shabby Genteel Story ix, in Fraser's Mag. Oct. 410/1 Suppose I do die,..what's the odds? Caroline doesn't care for me. 1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xiii. 165 It makes no odds whether a man has a thousand pounds, or nothing, there. 1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus viii. 94 But there, it's no odds. 1886 W. Besant Children of Gibeon I. i. ix. 201 What's the odds to a working man whether he spells right or wrong? 1923 D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo xvi. 345 That sense of sardonic tolerance, endurance. ‘What's the odds, boys?’ 1955 P. M. Young Elgar, O.M. ii. xvii. 288 Elgar's five great marches..were inspired by the spectacular. As near as makes no odds they are the musical counterpart to the Changing of the Guard. 1968 J. D. Carr Papa Là-bas ii. ix. 111 Whether I sideswiped him, or he sideswiped me, is no odds to anybody now. 1973 ‘M. Underwood’ Reward for Defector xxii. 158 What's the difficulty?..Not that it makes any odds. 1982 F. McGuinness Factory Girls iv. 23/1 Do yous all want to come up to our house for tea? Susan'll kill me, but sure what odds. 1998 Seahorse Internat. Sailing Apr. 7/1 The committee..were being offered 15 free boats by Sydney Yachts, or as near to free as makes no odds. 3. a. Gambling. The ratio between the amounts staked by the parties in a bet, based on the expected probability either way. to lay (also give, offer) odds: to offer a bet with odds favourable to the other party. to take odds: to accept such a bet. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > bet [verb (intransitive)] > offer favourable odds to lay (also give, offer) odds1560 society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [noun] > odds odds1748 price1829 betting1901 line1964 society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > bet [verb (intransitive)] > accept a bet to take odds1845 1560 T. Churchyard Surreioindre vnto Camels Reioindre in Contention bettwyxte Churchyeard & Camell 110 Vnder those fayr angels loks is hyd a deuelish minde I durst lay oddes who trust you long, ful false he shall you finde. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. v. 103 I wil lay ods, that ere this yeere expire, We beare our ciuil swords..As farre as France. View more context for this quotation 1637 J. Shirley Hide Parke iv. sig. G4 Fa. Forty pounds to thirty. Lo. Done, done, Ile take all oddes. 1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard Hist. Life Duke of Espernon i. iv. 156 He was so confident of his skill, as to offer odds, that..he would either kill the Duke of Espernon, or very much endanger his life. 1748 Whitehall Evening-post 13–15 Sept. The Odds, at starting, were on Babram. 1764 T. Bayes in Philos. Trans. 1763 (Royal Soc.) 53 410 There would be the odds of the millioneth power of 2 to one. 1817 J. Austen Sanditon v, in Minor Wks. (1954) 385 Now, if he were here, I know he would be offering odds that either Susan, Diana or Arthur would appear..to have been at the point of death within the last month. 1845 B. Disraeli Sybil I. i. i. 1 ‘I'll take the odds against Caravan.’ ‘In poneys?’ ‘Done.’ 1871 R. H. Hutton Ess. (1877) I. 48 A game of chance where the odds are a hundred to one against you. 1904 J. London Sea-wolf xxiv. 218 ‘I'll lay odds of five to one it's the Macedonia.’ No one accepted his offer. 1915 J. Buchan Thirty-nine Steps x. 248 The odds were a thousand to one that I might have..missed it. 1967 A. MacLean Where Eagles Dare vi. 118 Briefly and bleakly he wondered what odds any reasonable bookmaker would have given against their chances of reaching the castle. 1990 Accountancy Mar. 78/1 Most bets are made on the basis of odds quoted shortly before a race, or at starting prices. 2001 Sunday Mail (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 25 Mar. Bookies are set to offer the stingiest odds ever laid on the General Election after taking a pounding from punters in the 1997 poll. b. to shout the odds: to call out the odds offered on contenders in a race or competition; (hence, in extended use) to talk or opine loudly or aggressively (about something). ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > be talkative [verb (intransitive)] > talk excessively or chatter > with strong feeling noise?a1425 rave1716 gnatter1826 gush1864 to shout the odds1894 rant1908 steamroller1969 society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > bet [verb (intransitive)] > call odds to shout the odds1894 rort1931 1894 G. Moore Esther Waters xxxii. 262 He shouted the odds, willing to bet against every horse, distributed tickets to the various folk that crowded round him. 1895 Times 10 Jan. 3/3 The defendants and others made prices on the horses and shouted out the odds as upon a racecourse. 1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 257 To shout the odds, to talk too much: to brag: to grumble. 1958 F. Norman Bang to Rights i. 10 He was still shouting the odds about this blag which was..nothing but a dirty great romance. 1960 L. Cooper Accomplices ii. i. 76 There are always a few bloody fools who shout the odds about British justice and fair trials. 1967 Sunday Times 15 Oct. 9 For years he's shouted the odds about the Scouse way of life. 1973 ‘J. Patrick’ Glasgow Gang Observed xv. 131 He still shouts the odds fae the windae when there's a ba'le [sc. battle] oan. ‘Get right intae it, Tim,’ he says. 1990 European 11 May 19/1 Mr Morton is one of nature's high-profile individuals, thumping the table and shouting the odds. 1991 D. Dixon Prohibition to Regulation iii. 91 By the early 1890s, bookmakers could stay within the law only by moving around the enclosure as they shouted the odds. 4. Disagreement, conflict, variance, strife; = difference n.¹ 3. Now only in at odds (with): in conflict or at variance (with). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > dissent > [noun] unsibeOE unsaughta1122 un-i-sibc1275 conteckc1290 discordingc1325 distancec1325 discordance1340 dissensionc1384 batea1400 discordc1425 variancec1425 variationc1485 disgreement?1504 distinction1520 factiona1538 jar1546 variety1546 disagreeance1548 disagreeing1548 disagreement1548 misliking1564 odds1567 mislikea1586 discordancy1587 disagree1589 distancy1595 dissent1596 dislike1598 secting1598 dichostasy1606 fraction1609 dissentation1623 ill blood1624 misintelligence1632 clashing1642 misunderstanding1642 discomposure1659 disjointinga1715 uneasiness1744 friction1760 misunderstand1819 unharmony1866 inharmony1867 trouble at (the or t') mill1967 1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) vii. f. 85 Medea found a shift To feyne that Iason and hir selfe were falne at oddes in wroth. 1592 R. Greene Pandosto (new ed.) sig. Bij A compacted knauery..to bring the king and him at oddes. 1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. 9 The father..findeth so great fault with them for their oddes and iarring. 1621 R. Montagu Diatribæ Hist. Tithes 393 These two great Dichotomisers, being at odds with all others, and with themselues. 1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. i. xiv. 26 In Germany, they..fell to oddes principally about the Sacrament of the last Supper. 1694 P. A. Motteux Wks. from Rabelais (1737) iv. xxix. 121 Enemies; against whom he is eternally at odds. 1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 130 I was in the greatest Confusion imaginable..; and began to be at odds with myself whether to be glad or sorry. 1765 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VIII. x. 30 About which your reverences have so often been at odds with one another. 1850 R. W. Emerson Montaigne in Representative Men iv. 171 The superior mind will find itself equally at odds with the evils of society. 1873 R. Browning Red Cotton Night-cap Country iii. 155 Old folk and young folk, still at odds, of course! 1926 H. O. Osgood So this is Jazz 98 Leading philologists of the jazz world are at odds over the correct spelling of the name. 1954 C. R. Attlee As it Happened xvi. 139 He had been at odds with the Conservative Party and was thus free from the taint of Munich. 1987 Smithsonian Aug. 136/2 Until they can make that one-percent risk appear vanishingly small rather than parlously large, science and society will continue to find themselves at odds. 2000 N.Y. Times 13 July f7/2 The [park's] design is inappropriate to the 19th-century buildings.., and at odds with the vastly more sensitive treatment of other recent minipark reclamations. 5. a. Difference in favour of one of two contending parties; balance of advantage; superiority in strength, power, resources, etc. †with odds: with the balance of advantage for or against one (obsolete). against the (also all, any) odds: against the (also all, any) opposition; despite whatever obstacles there may be. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > [noun] > advantage over another > balance of, between parties odds?1575 ?1575 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. (new ed.) Ep. Ded. sig. ij I was constrained with too much oddes, to endure combat with both these furious spirites. 1587 J. Higgins Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) Albanacte xxxviii At home, with oddes, they durst not byde the stroke. 1608 G. Chapman Conspiracie Duke of Byron ii. sig. D3 His spirits haue flowd so high, In all his conflicts against any odds, That (in his charge) his lips haue bled with feruor. a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) i. ii. 148 You wil take little delight in it,..there is such oddes in the man. View more context for this quotation 1621 J. Fletcher et al. Trag. of Thierry & Theodoret ii. i. sig. E3 Pray you let me take it vp, and if I do not Against all ods of armor and of weapons, With this make him confesse it on his knees, Cut off my head. 1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads xx. 136 Nor does it need; so much we have the ods. 1709 J. Swift Let. conc. Sacramental Test 15 There appeared at least Four to One Odds against them. 1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xvi. 194 At any weapons, against any odds, I will prove him a traitor. 1787 J. P. Kemble Pilgrim iv. ii. 46 Did it look noble to be o'erlaid with odds? Did it seem manly in a multitude to oppress you? 1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto VIII cvi. 164 The truly brave, When they behold the brave oppressed with odds, Are touched with a desire to shield and save. 1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 259 The odds were now greatly in their favour. 1846 N. Brit. Rev. Nov. 131 If ever there was an age of chivalry it was then, when men fought against all odds in a high and holy cause. 1883 J. Payn Thicker than Water (1884) xxxviii. 306 That courage of his opinions which he never failed to display against any odds. 1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 818/2 Against overwhelming odds the United States troops held out until honour was satisfied. 1921 Amer. Woman Jan. 3/1 I have been putting up a hard fight, for a time seemingly against all odds. 1939 Fortune Nov. 28/2 The National Guard would have you know that it is a much abused and neglected body carrying on in the face of vast odds. 1971 ‘G. Charles’ Destiny Waltz x. 428 He had held out for the best and—against all the odds—had got it. 1998 E. Brimson Hooligan xlvii. 128 The police loved dishing it out when the odds were in their favour. b. Equalizing advantage given to a weaker side or competitor. Also in extended use. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > judging or umpiring > [noun] > allowance or handicap odds1591 handicap1849 penalty1885 1591 J. Florio Second Frutes 73 A.: What aduantage or oddes will you giue me? S.: None at all: why should I giue you oddes? A.: Because you play better than I. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II i. i. 62 Which to maintaine, I would allow him ods, And meete him were I tied to runne afoote, Euen to the frozen ridges of the Alpes. View more context for this quotation 1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. xx. 346 Warre is a game wherein very often that side loseth which layeth the oddes. 1709 W. Congreve tr. Ovid Art of Love iii, in Wks. (1710) III. 1003 Unequal Force against a naked Foe: No Glory from such Conquest can be gain'd, And Odds are always by the Brave disdain'd. 1725 N. Bailey tr. Erasmus All Familiar Colloquies 41 There's no great Honour in getting a Victory, when odds is taken. 1808 J. H. Sarratt Treat. Game of Chess I. 2 The player who gives odds has always the advantage of the move; except, of course, in those games where the move is also given to the inferior player. 1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well II. vi, in Waverley Novels (1832) 90 You have played on the square with me; nay, more—I am bound to allow you have given me great odds. 1877 Rep. Comm. Plan for Govt. Cities N.Y. in J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. (1888) II. li. 284 Each side feels that it cannot allow any odds to the other. 1975 Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 830/1 Both [players], in the true tennis tradition, made money by accepting challenges to play matches against odds. 1992 Oxf. Compan. Chess (ed. 2) 166/2 Other frequently found odds are giving the exchange, knight, rook, or queen. †c. Superior position, advantage; esp. in to take odds of: to take advantage of. Similarly to have the odds of (a person). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > advantage > an opportunity > give opportunity for [verb (transitive)] > take (opportunity) catchc1425 to take‥vantage (of)1573 apprehend1586 to take odds of1596 to catch at ——1610 feea1616 seize1618 nick1634 to jump at1769 the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > [noun] > advantage over another privilegec1390 advantagec1405 vantage1523 overmatch1542 odds1596 pull1781 1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. ii. sig. Aa5 Vnarm'd all was the knight..Whereof he taking oddes, streight bids him dight Himselfe to yeeld his loue. View more context for this quotation 1628 T. Hobbes tr. Thucydides Peloponnesian War (1822) 94 When..we come to undertake any danger we have this odds by it. 1675 W. Wycherley Country-wife ii. 23 I may draw now, since we have the odds of him. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies I. p. xvi I am not ignorant of the great Odds that the Bishop had of me, both in Education and Capacity. 1750 J. Nelson Jrnl. (1836) 23 I have the odds of you, for I have a much worse opinion of myself than you can have. 1861 J. A. Nunes Fast Folks ii. v. 38 Ulysses gains no odds of me! While I can safely boast a right which Homer never gave the sage! d. Chiefly U.S. regional. to ask (formerly †beg) no odds: to desire no advantage; to seek no favours or special consideration. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > morality > dueness or propriety > [verb (intransitive)] > put forward a claim > seek no favour to ask (formerly beg) no odds1806 1806 Baltimore Evening Post 5 Mar. 2/2 in R. H. Thornton Amer. Gloss. (1912) 620 No odds he begs Of any beast that walks upon four legs. 1834 Vermont Free Press 7 June A Varmounter never uses a dog... Give him a gun, and he asks no odds. 1857 H. C. Kimball in B. Young et al. Jrnl. Discourses V. 32/2 I ask no odds of them, no more than I do of the dirt I walk on. 1894 Congress. Rec. 29 May 5447/1 South Dakota asks no odds of any State of the Union. 1898 E. N. Westcott David Harum xiv. 128 I want to see how long it'll take to git all over the village that he didn't ask no odds o' nobody. 1995 Visit'n (Vermont Folklife Center) 29 They did for themselves and they didn't ask any odds of anyone. e. colloquial. over (also above) the odds: past the limit; more than is generally considered acceptable; (now) esp. above the usual price or rate. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > excessive amount or degree > excessively [phrase] > exceeding stated limit over the limit1872 over (also above) the odds1908 1908 Bulletin (Sydney) 10 Dec. 20/3 I shouldn't so much mind if there was any truth in it, but to be bounced by a pair o' plucked pigeons like them two chaps is a bit over the odds. 1918 C. Fetherstonhaugh After Many Days 205 Another bit of slang that originated at Gayndesh was ‘the dead finish’. Now it is ‘the limit’ or ‘above the odds’. 1930 ‘Sapper’ Finger of Fate 103 To be called a damned Englishman by Pedro Gonsalvez is a bit over the odds. 1972 Which? Feb. 50/1 You could even pay more than the list prices. We found some of the tools being sold for perhaps a pound or so over the odds. 1989 L. Underwood One's Company (BNC) 92 Never borrow money from a moneylender..who charges interest way above the odds. 2000 Big Issue 20 Mar. 17/1 In the vague belief that organic food is better for the environment as well as being good for them, they happily pay over the odds. 6. a. The chances or balance of probability in favour of something happening or being the case; probability, likelihood. Now usually in (the) odds are: the likelihood is. it is odds (that, †but): it is probable; the likelihood is (now rare). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > be likely [phrase] as (it) is likely1395 it is likely1395 it is odds (that, but)1589 (the) odds are1697 looks like?1746 the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > [noun] > balance of probability odds1589 1589 J. Lyly Pappe with Hatchet sig. E3^v Tis ods but that I shall thrust thee through the buckler into the brain. 1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 126 If a Man watch too long, it is odds he will fall asleepe. 1650 Bp. J. Taylor Rule & Exercises Holy Living iv. §7. 301 It is infinite oddes but he will quench the Spirit. 1697 J. Dryden Ded. Georgics in tr. Virgil Wks. sig. ¶2^v The Odds are against him that he loses. 1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 158 It was a Million to one odds, that ever he could have been relieved. 1748 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 29 Oct. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1252 It is odds but you touch somebody or other's sore place. 1755 T. Smollett tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote I. i. ii. 49 For..'tis odds, but they..have us apprehended: and verily, if they do, before we get out of prison, we may chance to sweat for it. 1761 G. Colman Jealous Wife ii. 21 What a damned Piece of Work have I made on't!—I..shall lose my Match, and as to Harriot, why, the Odds are that I lose my Match there too. 1797 T. Park Sonnets 86 'Tis odds that you escape the spatters. 1802 G. Colman Poor Gentleman (new ed.) v. iii. 77 We are on the ground first... What are the odds now, that he doesn't wing me? 1815 C. North Clara iii. iii, in Orig. Poems & Play 127 If it had not been for me, and my Lord Valmonsor, who rode in among them, I think it is odds but they had torn her into a thousand pieces. 1847 T. De Quincey Spanish Mil. Nun viii. 17 It was odds but she had first embarked upon this billowy life from the literal Bay of Biscay. 1859 C. J. Lever Davenport Dunn xlvi The odds are, he'd pull me up pretty sharp for doing so without his authority. 1887 R. Reece May ii. 27 When the stripling wrestler gets a fall from a well-knit master of the game, the odds are that the elder man wins by superior weight. 1915 A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear i. iii. 48 If he goes by road with his legs all dripping, it's odds that someone will notice him. 1947 D. M. Davin Gorse blooms Pale 204 With the Jerries rocking on their heels the way they were the odds were they'd have taken the count before he got back. 1986 J. Batten Judges v. 209 Odds are that the story is apocryphal. 2001 Nat. Health Oct. 62/3 If you go in tired, burdened and concerned, the odds are that life will look decidedly different when you emerge. b. North American. by all odds: certainly, undoubtedly, by any reckoning. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > greatly or very much [phrase] > to a great extent or by far great quantityc1330 far forthly1362 by farc1380 well awayc1390 by half?a1400 by mucha1450 far (and) away1546 by a great sort1579 to stand head and shoulders abovea1683 (by) a long way1741 by a jugful1831 by all odds1832 by a long, damn, etc., sight1834 out and away1834 (by) a long chalk1835 by chalks1835 by long chalks1835 by a street1886 a whole lot1886 1832 J. K. Paulding Westward Ho! II. xi. 113 He first compared Aristotle and the Stagyrite in philosophy, giving it as his opinion that the latter was the deeper of the two by all odds. 1850 E. A. Poe Thou art Man in Wks. II. 420 You are, by all odds, the heartiest old fellow I ever came across in all my born days. 1866 W. D. Howells Venetian Life 50 By all odds, the loungers at Florian's were the most interesting. 1898 E. N. Westcott David Harum iii. 25 Dinner is by all odds the chief event of the day on board ship to those who are able to dine. 1943 Internat. Jrnl. Relig. Educ. Apr. 14/1 By all odds the most significant function of the church ought to be its service in the immediate community where it is located. 1951 J. P. Marquand Melville Goodwin x. 163 Lee said that McClellan was the best Union general he fought against by all odds. 1974 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 18 July w1/1 They're the Montrealaise, by all odds the most stylish women in North America. 1992 Gallerie: Women Artists' Monographs Dec. 63 By all odds, I should not be here today. As a child I knew hunger, welfare homes, [etc.]. 7. a. odds and ends n. (also †odds on ends) odd fragments or remnants; miscellaneous articles or things; bits and pieces. Cf. end n. 5. [Probably an alteration of odd ends, found in same sense much earlier (see odd adj. 8a).] ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [noun] > miscellaneous things short end1560 threads and thrums1600 varieties1624 giblet1638 thrum1648 scrip-scrap1711 sundries1711 odds and ends1761 oddment1821 odd-come-short1836 what-nota1861 flotsam1861 odds and sods1921 odds and bobs1957 a1740 J. Brereton Poems (1744) 46 'Tis a kind of a Patchwork; I own amongst Friends, A new sort of Sonnet of Odds and of Ends... Cou'd I manage my Odds, and Ends, to account, Like a Piece of Patchwork I've seen at the Mount. ?1746 ‘T. Bobbin’ View Lancs. Dial. Gloss. Odds-on-eends, odd things.] 1761 G. Colman Jealous Wife iv. 74 He pieces out the Matter with Maxims, and Scraps of Philosophy, and Odds and Ends of Sentences. 1779 G. Keate Sketches from Nature (ed. 2) I. 51 'Tis but unstrapping my chaise trunk, laying out my odds and ends, and the affair is over. 1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto III lxxxiii. 44 Having pick'd up several odds and ends Of free thoughts. 1852 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 193 There are still some odds and ends for the carpenter to do. 1876 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Tom Sawyer xxxv. 270 He had just breakfasted upon some stolen odds and ends of food. 1903 J. London Call of Wild v. 130 Charles and Hal put the last odds and ends on top of the mountainous load. 1950 R. Davies At Heart's Core 4 She wears a loose gown and moccasins, and has a few odds and ends of ill-chosen adornment. 1977 T. Heald Just Desserts i. 10 You know he was one of ours?.. Provided us with information, tip-offs, odds and ends. 2001 New Yorker 16 Apr. 16/2 Kitschy collages assembled from odds and ends..salvaged by the artist from the streets of Los Angeles. b. British colloquial odds and sods n. (originally Services' slang) miscellaneous people or (later) articles; (subsequently, more generally) odds and ends. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [noun] > miscellaneous things short end1560 threads and thrums1600 varieties1624 giblet1638 thrum1648 scrip-scrap1711 sundries1711 odds and ends1761 oddment1821 odd-come-short1836 what-nota1861 flotsam1861 odds and sods1921 odds and bobs1957 1921 Notes & Queries 26 Nov. 424/1 Odds and sods, details attached to Batt[alion] H.Q., e.g. sanitary men. 1930 J. Brophy & E. Partridge Songs & Slang Brit. Soldier: 1914–1918 143 Odds and Sods, ‘details’ attached to Battalion Headquarters for miscellaneous offices: batmen, sanitary men, professional footballers and boxers on nominal duties, etc. a1935 T. E. Lawrence Mint (1955) ii. ix. 125 Ten minutes late for dinner. Odds and sods to eat. 1950 G. Wilson Brave Company xiii. 193 Add three-inch mortar, four-point-two inch mortar, Vickers and all the odds and sods. 1955 E. Waugh Officers & Gentlemen i. vi. 64 They left me behind with the other odds and sods. 1975 Time Out 26 Sept. 57/4 Although Tolkien's planned preface to the poems was never realised, his son Christopher has created one mostly out of his father's odds and sods—a radio talk plus notes. 1993 Caves & Caving Winter 14/2 A few odds and sods of new passage have been found. c. British colloquial odds and bobs n. odds and ends, bits and bobs (see bits and bobs at bit n.² and adj.² Phrases 1c(a)(ii)). ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [noun] > miscellaneous things short end1560 threads and thrums1600 varieties1624 giblet1638 thrum1648 scrip-scrap1711 sundries1711 odds and ends1761 oddment1821 odd-come-short1836 what-nota1861 flotsam1861 odds and sods1921 odds and bobs1957 1957 R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy v. 120 The shop window was an indiscriminate tangle of odds-and-bobs at coppers each. 1977 D. Clark Gimmel Flask iv. 70 A mixed lot of glass..odds and bobs collected from round a house. 1996 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 3 Mar. 12 [The play] settles for easy jokes and odds and bobs of farce. Compounds C1. General attributive (in sense 3). odds-giver n. ΚΠ 1875 in City of London Chess Mag. (1876) 2 15 The odds giver, finding the receiver thus coached up by us, may try to entrap him by playing 4 P to Q Kt 4. 1892 Daily News 12 Sept. 3/4 Singularly enough the odds-giver was never in the race. 1981 Jrnl. Conflict Resol. 25 191 Three groups of experts: the official track handicappers, the odds-givers of the Daily Racing Forum, [etc.]. 2014 Managem. Today Dec. 32/1 In fourth place, the Emerald Isle's favourite odds-giver, Paddy Power, puts in its best ever BMAC performance. oddsmaker n. ΚΠ 1931 Coshocton (Ohio) Tribune 9 Dec. 6/1 Samuel Insull, too, was a good odds maker, holding Smith at something like 6 to 1. 1994 ArtNews Feb. 47/1 The 30-year-old sculptor Rachel Whiteread..confirmed most oddsmakers' forecasts here by becoming the first woman to win the award. 2013 J. H. Sherman Bloodline Chron. 234 There were these two boys arguing with the oddsmaker over whether or not they were old enough to enter the fights. odds receiver n. Chess ΚΠ 1875 in City of London Chess Mag. 2 (1876) 15 Our friend the odds receiver will see that we are chary of bringing our Queen out early. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 21 Apr. 3/3 We have played games by the hundred giving the odds of the QR, and have invariably made use of the right of castling QR without the least objection from the odds receiver. 1962 Chess Rev. Sept. 258/3 Black could probably—but not by any method to be expected of an odds-receiver—escape. He took the Black Pawn with his King. 2000 P. J. Tamburro Learn Chess from Greats 142/1 The odds receiver gets so convinced that the king is invincible that the wager is easily sent to double or nothing when the odds giver sarcastically says that he can beat the lone king. C2. odds ratio n. Statistics a ratio of two probabilities, used chiefly as a measure of the comparative probability of an event occurring under control and experimental conditions. ΚΠ 1945 H. A. Freeman et al. Sequential Anal. Statist. Data: Applic. §3. 23 (heading) The odds ratio. 1955 C. M. Woolf Investig. Genetic Aspects Carcinoma of Stomach & Breast 306 The slope (s) and the intercepts (—h₁ + h₂) of the parallel lines were computed from four values: u₁, the odds ratio below which we say that no familial tendency exists for breast cancer; [etc.]. 1958 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. B. 20 222 The problem of getting a simple method of calculating limits for the odds-ratio in a 2 × 2 table is of intrinsic interest. 1990 Internat. Jrnl. Epidemiol. 19 872/2 Odds ratios were calculated as estimates of relative risk of cancer for ginseng ‘ever taken’ versus ‘never taken’ by the cases and controls. 2006 L. S. Meyers et al. Appl. Multivariate Res. vi. 230 Obtaining the odds ratio is one of the important objectives in logistic regression. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022). oddsv. Brit. /ɒdz/, U.S. /ɑdz/ Forms: see odds n.; also 1900s– oddses (Scottish, 3rd singular present indicative). Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: odds n. Etymology: < odds n. Compare odd v. 1. transitive. English regional (chiefly midlands and southern) and Scottish. To alter, esp. for the better; to redress or put right (a situation). Frequently in negative contexts. ΚΠ 1863 C. Kingsley Water-babies vi, in Macmillan's Mag. Jan. 214/2 So they odds it till it comes even, as we say down in Berkshire. 1870 F. P. Verney Lettice Lisle viii. 92 But what's the use o' talking? you can't odds it with me. 1895 ‘Rosemary’ Under Chilterns 20 Us cu'n't odds it no'ow this time, mother. c1920 in Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) He's always 'e same, naething oddses him. 2. transitive. colloquial. To take the ‘odds’ on (something); to escape or evade; (also) to risk, take a chance on, bet (frequently with it). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from (action) [verb (transitive)] > avoid or shun > get out of doing something evade1722 to get out of ——a1817 to get off ——1835 odds1958 1958 F. Norman Bang to Rights ii. 52 I used to go to church every Sunday only because I couldn't odds it. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard iv. 124 I can't odds being mixed up in crime. 1981 J. Sullivan Only Fools & Horses (1999) I. 1st Ser. Episode 5. 50 Grandad: If they'd never seen an elephant before how did they know it was an elephant? Del: For Gawd sake Grandad, an elephant's a bloody elephant, innit? I mean you can't odds that! 1985 R. Busby Hunter iii. 23 If he's in bother, I'd odds it he'll head back for the smoke. Camden Town's his manor. 1990 T. Thorne Bloomsbury Dict. Contemp. Slang (1991) 370/1 Odds it, to ‘play the odds’, take a risk or chance... You're oddsing it a bit, aren't you? This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.?a1513v.1863
随便看	to chap a person's ass to chap hands to chap out to chare out of this world to charge to charge a etc on, upon, against to charge a etc on, upon, against a person to charge a fault on, upon, against to charge a fault on, upon, against a person to charge a person a certain sum (for to charge a person with to charge on, upon, against to charge on, upon, against a person to charge oneself with to charge to an answer to charge with to charm asleep to charm the tongue to chase a person to mischance to chase forth to chase one's tail to chase rainbows to chase the dragon to chase to mischance to chase up

oddsn.

Compounds

oddsv.