snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

English

Etymology

An ironic reversal of snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

snatch defeat from the jaws of victory (third-person singular simple present snatches defeat from the jaws of victory, present participle snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, simple past and past participle snatched defeat from the jaws of victory)

1. (idiomatic) To suddenly lose a contest one seemed very likely to win, especially through mistakes or bad judgment.
   • 1874, Illinois sports pages, "but when they [the Whitesocks baseball team] snatch defeat from the jaws of victory there can be little sympathy for their deserved misfortune." (Quoteinvestigator)
   • 1999, Abraham Lincoln removed Gen. Ambrose Burnside from command after the Battle of Fredricksburg^[sic] (11-15 December 1862), describing his actions as snatching defeat from the jaws of victory—Janis Herbert, The Civil War for Kids. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press, p. 68.
   • 1999, Daniel N. Nelson, "Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory," Journal of the Atomic Scientists (Chicago, Illinois). October 1992.
   • 2005, William Kristol, "Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?" The Weekly Standard (Washington, D.C.). 6 September 2005.
   • 2007, William Easterly, "The Ideology of Development," Foreign Policy (Washington, D.C.). June 11, 2007.

     ... since the fall of communism, the West has managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and with disastrous results.

   • 2008, Victor Davis Hanson, "Snatching Defeat from the jaws of victory," National Review (New York, New York). 31 January 2008.
   • 2009, "Teenagers snatch defeat from the jaws of victory," Londonderry Sentinal (Londonderry, Northern Ireland). 22 October 2009.
   • 2010, Peter Roebuck. "Tourists snatch defeat from jaws of victory," Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales). 8 January 2010.
   • 2023 October 4, Drachinifel, 28:18 from the start, in Battle of the Komandorski Islands - Forced to run, yet still they won‎^[1], archived from the original on 4 October 2023:

     This analysis was reflected in the fates of the respective commanding officers. McMorris, who'd managed to, by luck and judgment, retain all of his ships, was made Nimitz's chief of staff. Hosogaya, who'd managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, was relieved of command and forced to retire to the reserves, where he would never again be allowed an active seagoing command.

Translations

suddenly lose a contest one seemed very likely to win, especially through mistakes or bad judgment

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 转胜为败

• Czech: vykřesat porážku z vítězství
• Italian: strappare la sconfitta dalle fauci della vittoria
• Russian: вырвать поражение из цепких лап победы (vyrvatʹ poraženije iz cepkix lap pobedy, literally “snatch defeat from the tenacious paws of victory”)

Anagrams

• snatch victory from the jaws of defeat