snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

Etymology
An ironic reversal of.

Verb

 * 1)  To suddenly lose a contest one seemed very likely to win, especially through mistakes or bad judgment.
 * 2) * 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)
 * 3) * 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.
 * 4) * 1999, Daniel N. Nelson, "Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory," Journal of the Atomic Scientists (Chicago, Illinois). October 1992.
 * 5) * 2005, William Kristol, "Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?" The Weekly Standard (Washington, D.C.). 6 September 2005.
 * 6) * 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.
 * 1) * 2008, Victor Davis Hanson, "Snatching Defeat from the jaws of victory," National Review (New York, New York). 31 January 2008.
 * 2) * 2009, "Teenagers snatch defeat from the jaws of victory," Londonderry Sentinal (Londonderry, Northern Ireland). 22 October 2009.
 * 3) * 2010, Peter Roebuck. "Tourists snatch defeat from jaws of victory," Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales). 8 January 2010.

Translations

 * 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