Word.ws English Dictionary

lays odds

lays odds is the third-person singular simple present indicative of lay odds.

Meaning of lay odds

Verb

lay odds (third-person singular simple present lays odds, present participle laying odds, simple past and past participle laid odds)

  1. 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: […]...
  2. To feel certain about something.

Questions about lays odds

What is lays odds the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Lays odds is the third-person singular simple present indicative of lay odds.

Words near lays odds in the dictionary

  1. lays in lavender
  2. lays into
  3. lays it on
  4. lays it on thick
  5. lays low
  6. lays odds
  7. lays off
  8. lays on
  9. lays on the line
  10. lays on with a trowel
  11. lays one down

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lays odds (page history and authors); lay odds (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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