No matter how much Gibbs plays up the rugged challenge and the steep odds he faces, he inwardly matches that with concretelike confidence.

The only thing left was a technical last-ditch action, with the odds so steep that I'd got it out of my mind.

Those are tremendously steep odds, considering that even paid experts are blindsided by completely unexpected market fluctuations.

In stores yesterday, the steep odds did not seem to matter.

Stuart Rothenberg, an editor of a nonpartisan political newsletter, said Democrats face steep but not impossible odds in picking up five seats.

That has forced Ms. Wang and her group to embark on a costly appeal against steep odds.

That ingredient seems to be the ability to prevail against steep odds through determination.

Entremed still faces steep odds in its search for a better way to treat cancer.

The meager turnout was an indication of the steep odds Mr. Schundler faces.

He was like a man who against steep odds had just won a particularly difficult contest.