Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.21 in modern English

Syllables: snatch de-feat from the -jaws of vic-to-ry
IPA

70

Scrabble Score

32

Letters

5

Syllables

17

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To suddenly lose a contest one seemed very likely to win, especially through mistakes or bad judgment.

Example Sentences

"1874, Illinois sports pages, "but when they [the Whitesocks baseball team] snatch defeat from the jaws of victory there can be little sympathy for their deserved misfortune." (Quoteinvestigator)"
"1999, Abraham Lincoln removed Gen. Ambrose Burnside from command after the Battle of Fredricksburg (11-15 December 1862), describing his actions as snatching defeat from the jaws of victory—Janis Herbert, The Civil War for Kids. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press, p. 68."
"1999, Daniel N. Nelson, "Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory," Journal of the Atomic Scientists (Chicago, Illinois). October 1992."
"2005, William Kristol, "Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?" The Weekly Standard (Washington, D.C.). 6 September 2005."
"2007, William Easterly, "The Ideology of Development," Foreign Policy (Washington, D.C.). June 11, 2007. ... since the fall of communism, the West has managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and with disastrous results."
"2008, Victor Davis Hanson, "Snatching Defeat from the jaws of victory," National Review (New York, New York). 31 January 2008."

Etymology

An ironic reversal of snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Inflected Forms

snatches defeat from the jaws of victory (present, singular) snatching defeat from the jaws of victory (participle, present) snatched defeat from the jaws of victory (participle, past) snatched defeat from the jaws of victory (past)

Questions

What does snatch defeat from the jaws of victory mean?: To suddenly lose a contest one seemed very likely to win, especially through mistakes or bad judgment.
Where does snatch defeat from the jaws of victory come from?: An ironic reversal of snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

How to pronounce snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

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