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odds and ends

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR odds and ends ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

miscellaneous items, matters, etc.
fragments; remnants; scraps; bits.

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RELATED WORDS

assortment, debris, hodgepodge, jumble, litter, medley, melee, miscellany, mishmash, motley, olio, patchwork, potpourri, rags, refuse, remainder, remains, rest, rubbish, rummage

Nearby words

  1. oddly,
  2. oddment,
  3. oddments,
  4. oddness,
  5. odds,
  6. odds and sods,
  7. odds are, the,
  8. odds-on,
  9. oddsbodikins,
  10. oddside

Origin of odds and ends

First recorded in 1740–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for odds and ends

British Dictionary definitions for odds and ends

odds and ends

pl n

miscellaneous items or articles
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Idioms and Phrases with odds and ends

odds and ends

Miscellaneous items, fragments and remnants, as in I've finished putting everything away, except for a few odds and ends. This expression may have originated as odd ends in the mid-1500s, meaning “short leftovers of some material” (such as lumber or cloth). It had acquired its present form and meaning by the mid-1700s.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.