take a flyer

verb2

1. •
   To invest against odds.

   • The oldest girls are eagerly perusing the financial reports, for a certain young man remarked last Sunday night that he had taken a flyer in Q., X. & Z. — 1906
2. •
   To make a choice with an uncertain outcome; to take a chance.

   • Many voters said that while they liked Reform, they remembered having taken a flyer on Bob Rae and the NDP, a gamble they had come to regret. — 1997