bet

1
[ bet ]
See synonyms for bet on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),bet or bet·ted, bet·ting.
  1. to wager with (something or someone).

verb (used without object),bet or bet·ted, bet·ting.
  1. to make a wager: Do you want to bet?

noun
  1. a pledge of a forfeit risked on some uncertain outcome; wager: Where do we place our bets?

  2. that which is pledged: a two-dollar bet.

  1. something that is bet on, as a competitor in a sporting event or a number in a lottery: That horse looks like a good bet.

  2. an act or instance of betting: It's a bet, then?

  3. a person, plan of action, etc., considered as being a good alternative; choice: Your best bet is to sell your stocks now.

Idioms about bet

  1. all bets are off. See entry at all bets are off.

  2. you bet!Informal. of course! surely!: You bet I'd like to be there!

Origin of bet

1
First recorded in 1585–95; perhaps special use of obsolete bet “better,” in phrase the bet “the advantage,” i.e., “the odds”

Other words for bet

Other definitions for bet (2 of 4)

bet2
[ beyt; bet ]

noun

Other definitions for BET (3 of 4)

BET

abbreviationTrademark.
  1. Black Entertainment Television: a cable television channel.

Other definitions for bet. (4 of 4)

bet.

abbreviation
  1. between.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bet in a sentence

  • No miser ever had a more cheerful and happy hour than I had as I read the betting-book at Thwaites'.

  • He also attends to all the large races, but he does little betting, because the Queen is opposed to gambling.

    Ways of War and Peace | Delia Austrian
  • Not so: Dawkins won always, Mr. B. betting on his play, and giving him the very best of advice.

    Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush | William Makepeace Thackeray
  • Men were betting whether the Unionists would lose more or less than two hundred seats.

    The New Machiavelli | Herbert George Wells
  • I suspect some Army money went on him, quietly, although little betting was now done in our presence.

    The Way of a Man | Emerson Hough

British Dictionary definitions for bet

bet

/ (bɛt) /


noun
  1. an agreement between two parties that a sum of money or other stake will be paid by the loser to the party who correctly predicts the outcome of an event

  2. the money or stake risked

  1. the predicted result in such an agreement: his bet was that the horse would win

  2. a person, event, etc, considered as likely to succeed or occur: it's a good bet that they will succeed

  3. a course of action (esp in the phrase one's best bet)

  4. informal an opinion; view: my bet is that you've been up to no good

verbbets, betting, bet or betted
  1. (when intr foll by on or against) to make or place a bet with (a person or persons)

  2. (tr) to stake (money, etc) in a bet

  1. (tr; may take a clause as object) informal to predict (a certain outcome): I bet she fails

  2. you bet informal of course; naturally

Origin of bet

1
C16: probably short for abet

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with bet

bet

In addition to the idioms beginning with bet

  • bet one's ass
  • bet on the wrong horse

also see:

  • back (bet on) the wrong horse
  • hedge one's bets
  • you bet your ass

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