Idiom
snatch victory from the jaws of defeat
Meaning
To suddenly win a contest when it appears that loss is a foregone conclusion, to succeed in an endeavor through reversal of fortune, skill, effort, or good judgment.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The team snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the final minute.”
“You snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with that last-minute goal.”
“We often snatch victory from the jaws of defeat when we work together.”
“Despite trailing by ten points, the captain scored twice to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.”
“The company managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by signing a major contract just hours before they ran out of money.”
“After failing the first two rounds of the debate, the student used a brilliant final argument to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.”
“With only seconds remaining on the clock, the underdog athlete performed a miraculous final maneuver to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.”
Examples
simple
“The team snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the final minute.”
“You snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with that last-minute goal.”
“We often snatch victory from the jaws of defeat when we work together.”
contextual
“Despite trailing by ten points, the captain scored twice to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.”
“The company managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by signing a major contract just hours before they ran out of money.”
“After failing the first two rounds of the debate, the student used a brilliant final argument to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.”
complex
“With only seconds remaining on the clock, the underdog athlete performed a miraculous final maneuver to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.”
Origin
The first recorded use of the phrase discovered to date is an article criticizing Representative James Seddon of Virginia for claiming that a regiment in the Mexican–American War had "snatched victory from the jaws of defeat."
Key words
Related idioms
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