jaws of defeat

今日は読む本が途切れた時に読む 'Merriam-Webster's Vocabulary Builder' の "resign" の言葉を説明する例文が目に留まり、その中の表現を紹介します。
resign: (1) To give up a position or offices. (2) To accept something as unavoidable.
By the last quarter the fans were resigned to losing, but two miraculous touchdowns snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

この後に "resign" の語源と意味のニュアンスを含めた説明がある構成になっていますが、私が気になったのは上記の例文に出てきた "jaws of defeat" の意味です。

・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: the position of being close to losing: The team was able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by scoring in the final seconds of the game.
・Oxford English Dictionary: Used to suggest the notion of being in danger from something such as death or defeat.: ‘victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat’


"jaws of defeat" を項目として掲載している辞書は上の二つの辞書くらいでしたが、多くの辞書は "the jaws" の意味を説明しています。

・Collins Dictionary: a dangerously close position: When washed near the outer edge, it grabbed and pulled her back into the jaws of its turbulence.

・Cambridge English Dictionary: something dangerous: The rescuers snatched the children from the jaws of death.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a position or situation in which one is threatened: rode into the jaws of danger

"the jaws" で映画の「ジョーズ」を連想すればいいですね。