weird: That first day was weird.
3
occasionaclass="underline" I've had occasional mild headaches all my life.
random: …random variations of the wind.
various: The school has received various grants from the education department.
odd|ball /ɒ dbɔːl/ (oddballs ) N‑COUNT If you refer to someone as an oddball , you think they behave in a strange way. [INFORMAL ] □ His mother and father thought Jim was a bit of an oddball too. ● ADJ Oddball is also an adjective. □ I came from a family that was decidedly oddball, you know.
odd|ity /ɒ d I ti/ (oddities )
1 N‑COUNT An oddity is someone or something that is very strange. □ Carlson noticed another oddity; his plant had bloomed twice.
2 N‑COUNT The oddity of something is the fact that it is very strange. □ [+ of ] …the oddities of the Welsh legal system.
o dd-jo b man (odd-job men ) N‑COUNT An odd-job man is a man who is paid to do various jobs such as cleaning or repairing things, usually in someone's home.
o dd-looking ADJ If you describe someone or something as odd-looking , you think that they look strange or unusual. □ They were an odd-looking couple.
odd|ly /ɒ dli/
1 ADV [ADV adj] You use oddly to indicate that what you are saying is true, but that it is not what you expected. □ He said no and seemed oddly reluctant to talk about it. □ Oddly, Emma says she never considered her face was attractive.
2 → see also odd
odd|ment /ɒ dmənt/ (oddments ) N‑COUNT Oddments are unimportant objects of any kind, usually ones that are old or left over from a larger group of things. □ …searching street markets for interesting jewellery and oddments.
odds /ɒ dz/
1 N‑PLURAL You refer to how likely something is to happen as the odds that it will happen. □ [+ of ] What are the odds of finding a parking space right outside the door? □ The odds are that you are going to fail.
2 → see also odds-on
3 N‑PLURAL In betting, odds are expressions with numbers such as '10 to 1' and '7 to 2' that show how likely something is thought to be, for example how likely a particular horse is to lose or win a race. □ [+ of ] Gavin Jones, who put £25 on Eugene, at odds of 50 to 1, has won £1,250.
4 PHRASE If someone is at odds with someone else, or if two people are at odds , they are disagreeing or quarrelling with each other. □ [+ with ] He was at odds with his Prime Minister. □ An adviser said there was no reason why the two countries should remain at odds.
5 PHRASE If you say that the odds are against something or someone, you mean that they are unlikely to succeed. □ He reckoned the odds are against the scheme going ahead.
6 PHRASE If something happens against all odds , it happens or succeeds although it seemed impossible or very unlikely. □ Some women do manage to achieve business success against all odds.
7 PHRASE If you say that the odds are in someone's favour , you mean that they are likely to succeed in what they are doing. □ His troops will only engage in a ground battle when all the odds are in their favour.
8 PHRASE To shorten the odds on something happening means to make it more likely to happen. To lengthen the odds means to make it less likely to happen. You can also say that the odds shorten or lengthen . □ His reception there shortened the odds that he might be the next Tory leader.
o dds and e nds N‑PLURAL You can refer to a disorganized group of things of various kinds as odds and ends . [INFORMAL ] □ She put in some clothes, odds and ends, and make-up.
o dds-o n also odds on ADJ If there is an odds-on chance that something will happen, it is very likely that it will happen. [INFORMAL ] □ Gerald was no longer the odds-on favourite to win the contest. □ It was odds-on that there was no killer.
ode /oʊ d/ (odes ) N‑COUNT An ode is a poem, especially one that is written in praise of a particular person, thing, or event. □ [+ of ] …Keats' Ode to a Nightingale.
odi|ous /oʊ diəs/ ADJ If you describe people or things as odious , you think that they are extremely unpleasant. □ Herr Schmidt is certainly the most odious man I have ever met.
odium /oʊ diəm/ N‑UNCOUNT Odium is the dislike, disapproval, or hatred that people feel for a particular person, usually because of something that the person has done. [FORMAL ] □ The complainant has been exposed to public odium, scandal and contempt.
odom|eter /ɒdɒ m I tə r / (odometers ) N‑COUNT An odometer is a device in a vehicle which shows how far the vehicle has travelled. [mainly AM ]
odor /oʊ də r / → see odour
odour /oʊ də r / (odours ) in AM, use odor 1 N‑VAR An odour is a particular and distinctive smell. □ The whole herb has a characteristic taste and odour. □ The taste is only slightly bitter, and there is little odour.
2 → see also body odour
odour|less /oʊ də r ləs/ in AM, use odorless ADJ An odourless substance has no smell. □ …a completely odourless, colourless, transparent liquid. □ The gases are odourless.
od|ys|sey /ɒ d I si/ (odysseys ) N‑COUNT An odyssey is a long exciting journey on which a lot of things happen. [LITERARY ] □ The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.