Just heard two phrases from a native speaker (Northern Ireland, UK):
1.
we are still in with a shot
2.
to be in with a shot
What do they mean? How would you explain the meaning of these phrases in English?
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2Please provide the context in which you heard the phrases. Otherwise we have no chance of helping you with a lot of guesswork. – Helmar Aug 23 '16 at 11:25
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"we still have a shot at winning" ="winning is not out of possibility" I suppose it's about soccer. – P. O. Aug 23 '16 at 13:47
"We are still in with a shot" means to still have a chance of winning or obtaining whatever the context is referring to.
Example:
You've just lost one game in a football tournament but you still have a chance of winning if you win the remaining games. Someone on the team may say to the rest of the team, "We are still in with a shot if we win our other games!"
Replace the word "shot" with "chance" and then try the phrases in the context you heard them. Do they work?
Sources:
1: Living in the UK.
2: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english-thesaurus/shot See point 6 in Nouns and points 2 & 4 in Phrases for examples of "shot" as synonyms of chance.
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1Welcome to ELU. ELU strives to provide objective answers. Thus you could improve your answer greatly by adding sources that substantiate it. Have a look at the site tour and the help center to find out about good answers. – Helmar Aug 23 '16 at 11:30
