lay odds
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to bet or predict that something will happen
Literally: place odds
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
I hadn't asked but I just knew she was his only offspring, and I'd lay odds there wasn't a Mrs McInnes any more.
Haven't gone much further back but I'd lay odds on a comfortable middle - class upbringing; don't know for sure, though.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “lay odds” mean?
to bet or predict that something will happen Literally: place odds
Is “lay odds” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.