n.
- An agreement usually between two parties that the one who has made an incorrect prediction about an uncertain outcome will forfeit something stipulated to the other; a wager.
- An amount or object risked in a wager; a stake.
- One on which a stake is or can be placed: Our team is a sure bet to win.
- A plan or an option considered with regard to its probable consequence: Your best bet is to make reservations ahead of time.
- Informal. A view or opinion, especially about something that cannot be known at the present time: My bet is that the rain will hold off. My bet is he didn't do it.
v., bet, or bet·ted, bet·ting, bets. v.tr.
- To stake (an amount, for example) in a bet.
- To make a bet with: I bet them that we would be first.
- To make a bet on (a contestant or an outcome).
- To maintain confidently, as if making a bet: I bet they were surprised by the news.
To make or place a bet.
idiom:
you bet Informal.
- Of course; surely.
[Origin unknown.]
SYNONYMS bet, ante, pot, stake, wager. These nouns denote something valuable risked on an uncertain outcome: placed a 50-dollar bet in the first race; raising the ante in a poker game; won the whole pot at cards; played for high stakes; laid a wager on who would win.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
