Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.21 in modern English

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

69

Scrabble Score

33

Letters

5

Syllables

17

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To fail to achieve an expected success, especially through counterproductive intervention.

Humorous

Example Sentences

""The Germans," he remarked, "have the uncanny ability to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.""
"The quip attributed to prominent New Dealer Paul Porter that "Dewey snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory" sums up that feeling."
"According to them, whatever mistakes took place were made exclusively by Hitler, a leader who not only ran strategy, but also insisted on intervening in operational decisions to the point that time after time, he managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory."
"He would probably not have been guilty of the failures of resolve by which his successors repeatedly snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory."
"Whitman nearly managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory by allowing Florio to define her as out of touch and unfit for the governorship. She followed one mistake with another, allowing her own events like the release of her tax-cut plan to be turned against her while turning what should have been minor blips into major gaffes."
"It is tempting to suggest that the Luftwaffe's poor intelligence caused it to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory."

Etymology

Ironic reversal of a similar idiom, to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat, with the opposite meaning.

Usage

Humorous

Inflected Forms

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

Questions

What does snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory mean?: To fail to achieve an expected success, especially through counterproductive intervention.
Where does snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory come from?: Ironic reversal of a similar idiom, to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat, with the opposite meaning.

How to pronounce snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory

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