lay odds
verb1
To offer a bet in which one stands more to lose than the opponent; or a bet in some other way favourable to the opponent.
- Prince John: "I will lay odds that, ere this year expire, / We bear our civil swords and native fire / As far as France. I heard a bird so sing, / Whose music, to my thinking, pleas'd the King."c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
- "We're dead safe," he assured them with a laugh. "No salt mines this time, Smoke. But I'll tell you what -- I'll lay odds of five to one it's the Macedonia."1904, Jack London, chapter 24, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:
2
To feel certain about something.
- Synonyms
- give odds
- Antonyms
- take odds
- Coordinate terms
- wager