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odds

 - 8 dictionary results

odds

  [odz]
Use odds in a Sentence
–noun (usually used with a plural verb)
1. the probability that something is so, will occur, or is more likely to occur than something else: The odds are that it will rain today.
2. the ratio of probability that something is so, will occur, or is more likely to occur than something else.
3. this ratio used as the basis of a bet; the ratio by which the bet of one party to a wager exceeds that of the other, granted by one of two betting opponents to equalize the chances favoring one of them: The odds are two-to-one that it won't rain today.
4. an equalizing allowance, as that given the weaker person or team in a contest; handicap.
5. an advantage or degree of superiority on the side of two contending parties; a difference favoring one of two contestants.
6. an amount or degree by which one thing is better or worse than another.
—Idioms
7. at odds, at variance; in disagreement: They were usually at odds over political issues.
8. by all odds, in every respect; by far; undoubtedly: She is by all odds the brightest child in the family. Also, by long odds, by odds.
Origin:
1490–1500; special use of odd

odd

  [od] adjective, -er, -est, noun
–adjective
1. differing in nature from what is ordinary, usual, or expected: an odd choice.
2. singular or peculiar in a strange or eccentric way: an odd person; odd manners.
3. fantastic; bizarre: Her taste in clothing was rather odd.
4. leaving a remainder of 1 when divided by 2, as a number (opposed to even ): Numbers like 3, 15, and 181 are odd numbers.
5. more or less, esp. a little more (used in combination with a round number): I owe three hundred-odd dollars.
6. being a small amount in addition to what is counted or specified: I have five gross and a few odd dozens.
7. being part of a pair, set, or series of which the rest is lacking: an odd glove.
8. remaining after all others are paired, grouped, or divided into equal numbers or parts: Everybody gets two hamburgers and I get the odd one.
9. left over after all others are used, consumed, etc.
10. (of a pair) not matching: Do you know you're wearing an odd pair of socks?
11. not forming part of any particular group, set, or class: to pick up odd bits of information.
12. not regular, usual, or full-time; occasional; casual: odd jobs.
13. out-of-the-way; secluded: a tour to the odd parts of the Far East.
14. Mathematics. (of a function) having a sign that changes when the sign of each independent variable is changed at the same time.
–noun
15. something that is odd.
16. Golf.
a. a stroke more than the opponent has played.
b. British. a stroke taken from a player's total score for a hole in order to give him or her odds.
Origin:
1300–50; ME odde < ON oddi odd (number)

Related forms:
oddly, adverb
oddness, noun

Synonyms:
1. extraordinary, unusual, rare, uncommon. See strange.

Antonyms:
1. ordinary, usual, common.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To odds
odds   (ŏdz)   
pl.n.  

  1. A certain number of points given beforehand to a weaker side in a contest to equalize the chances of all participants.

    1. The ratio of the probability of an event's occurring to the probability of its not occurring.

    2. The likelihood of the occurrence of one thing rather than the occurrence of another thing, as in a contest: The odds are that she will get the nomination on the first ballot.

  3. Games A ratio expressing the amount by which the stake of one bettor differs from that of an opposing bettor.

  4. An amount or a degree by which one thing exceeds or falls short of another: won the contest by considerable odds.


[Pl. of odd.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

odd 
c.1300, "constituting a unit in excess of an even number," from O.N. oddi "third or additional number," as in odda-maðr "third man, odd man (who gives the casting vote)," odda-tala "odd number." O.N. oddi means lit. "point, angle;" related via notion of "triangle" to oddr "point of a weapon," from P.Gmc. *uzdaz "pointed upward" (cf. O.E. ord "point of a weapon, spear, source, beginning," O.Fris. ord "point, place," Du. oord "place, region," O.H.G. ort "point," Ger. Ort "place"), from PIE *uzdho- (cf. Lith. us-nis "thistle"). None of the other languages, however, shows the O.N. development from "point" to "third number." Used from 1382 to indicate a surplus over any given sum. Sense of "strange, peculiar" first attested 1588 from notion of "odd one out, unpaired one of three" (attested earlier, c.1400, as "singular" in a positive sense of "renowned, rare, choice"); oddball "eccentric or unconventional person" first attested 1948. Odd job (c.1770) is so called from notion of "not regular." Odd lot "incomplete or random set" is from 1897. The international order of Odd Fellows began as local social clubs in England, late 18c., with Masonic-type trappings; formally organized 1813 in Manchester.

odds 
in wagering sense, found first in Shakespeare ("2 Henry IV," 1597), probably from earlier sense of "amount by which one thing exceeds or falls short of another" (1548), from odd (q.v.), though the sense evolution is uncertain. Always treated as a singular, though obviously a plural (cf. news).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: ODD
Function: abbreviation
oppositional defiant disorder
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Science Dictionary
odd   (ŏd)  Pronunciation Key 
Divisible by 2 with a remainder of 1, such as 17 or -103.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Idioms & Phrases

odds

In addition to the idioms beginning with odds, also see against all odds; at odds; by all odds; lay odds.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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