long shot

noun

\ ˈlȯŋ-ˌshät

Definition of long shot

1 : a venture involving great risk but promising a great reward if successful also : a venture unlikely to succeed

2 : an entry (as in a horse race) given little chance of winning

3 : a bet in which the chances of winning are slight but the possible winnings great

by a long shot

: by a great deal

Examples of long shot in a Sentence

I hope to double my profits, but I know that's a long shot. The horse was a long shot, but we bet on him anyway. She always bets on long shots at the racetrack.

Recent Examples on the Web

But this is not the first strobe weapon ever conceived—not by a long shot. — David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, "The Long, Weird History of Strobe Weapons," 11 Feb. 2019 For Georgia, though, the transplant was a long shot — a heart attack is different from a temporary loss of blood during an operation, and the prognosis is stark. — New York Times, "Dying Organs Restored to Life in Novel Experiments," 10 July 2018 Getting employed in the auto industry was a long shot. — Jacob Sweet, miamiherald, "His dream was to race cars. Now this Miami kid is building them for one of best F1 teams," 10 July 2018 Admittedly, this is a long shot for many reasons and there is no indication the Rangers are even thinking about trading one of the team's bright spots this season. — Jeff Wilson, star-telegram, "Trader Jon now open for business. Which Rangers could be dealt?," 14 June 2018 The two former employees—one citing familiarity with financial figures shared with investors during the recent fund-raising round—said this was a long shot, and predicted the company would run out of capital by the first quarter of 2019. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, "Blockchain Firm R3 Is Running Out of Money, Sources Say," 7 June 2018 Promises Fulfilled, an 18-1 long shot, took the early lead and never looked back to win Saturday’s $400,000 Grade 2 Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. — Jason Frakes, The Courier-Journal, "Road to Kentucky Derby | Romans-trained Promises Fulfilled wins Fountain of Youth," 3 Mar. 2018 But Morefield and Aird are at the heart of an unusual legislative long shot that’s making its way through the General Assembly — and highlighting the power of some ideas to cut through traditional politics. — Gregory S. Schneider, Washington Post, "Divided by party, united by desperation, lawmakers seek help for poorest areas," 10 Feb. 2018 The proposal, which trade experts describe as a long shot at best, would call for Trump to drop existing duties on solar panels -- and for the president to not levy new ones. — Bloomberg.com, "Senate Holds Procedural Vote on Stopgap Spending Bill," 19 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'long shot.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.