🗓️ Idiom: Beat the Odds (v)
💬 Meaning
- To succeed in a situation where success is unlikely or difficult.
- To overcome challenges or low expectations and achieve a positive result.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Despite being a small startup, they beat the odds and captured a huge share of the market.
- She beat the odds by closing a major deal in a highly competitive industry.
- The campaign beat the odds and delivered results no one anticipated.
🏛️ Origin
The phrase “beat the odds” comes from gambling, where “odds” represent the chances of a particular outcome. Beating the odds means winning or succeeding when the probability is against you. Over time, it became a common idiom for overcoming difficult circumstances.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
The company __________ by launching a product that no one expected to succeed.
Answer
beat the odds
2. Choose the correct meaning of “beat the odds”:
A) To avoid responsibility
B) To fail despite strong chances
C) To succeed despite low chances
Answer
C) To succeed despite low chances
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“They succeeded even though nobody believed they could.” → Change the sentence using: beat the odds
Answer
They beat the odds even though nobody believed they could.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
👉 Marketing and Sales Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
👉 Student Space
👉 Tutor Toolkit
Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
