over the odds

English

Etymology

Connected with gambling, such as horse racing and card games, where the amount for a price or a payoff depends on the odds (chances).

Prepositional phrase

over the odds

1. (UK, informal) More than necessary; too much.

   Hyponym: pay through the nose (extreme degree)

   If you wait til next week, you'll find yourself paying over the odds for the tickets.

   • 2013 October 15, Rory Cellan-Jones, “Supercell: Europe’s supercharged games success”, in BBC News‎^[1]:

     This might look like another of those dotcom deals, where a wealthy corporate giant pays over the odds for a business with big user numbers but no concrete business plan.

Usage notes

• Usually collocated with a verb such as pay.

Related terms

• beat the odds

References

• “pay over the odds” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “over the odds”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “over the odds” (US) / “over the odds” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.