bet
verb (used with object)
to wager with (something or someone).
Showing results for "bet"
- a variation of beth.
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Slang dictionary results for bet.
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to bet.
bet
1 American
[bet]
/ bɛt /
verb (used with object)
-
bets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bet,
past participle, past
-
betted,
past participle, past
-
betting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
bets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bet,
past participle, past
-
betted,
past participle, past
-
betting
present participle
noun
-
a pledge of a forfeit risked on some uncertain outcome; wager.
Where do we place our bets?
-
that which is pledged.
a two-dollar bet.
-
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.
-
an act or instance of betting.
It's a bet, then?
-
a person, plan of action, etc., considered as being a good alternative; choice.
Your best bet is to sell your stocks now.
idioms
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all bets are off. see all bets are off.
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you bet! of course! surely!.
You bet I'd like to be there!
bet
2
American
[bayt, bet]
/ beɪt, bɛt /
noun
BET
3
American
abbreviation
Trademark.
bet.
4
American
abbreviation
bet
British
/ bɛt /
noun
-
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
-
the money or stake risked
-
the predicted result in such an agreement
his bet was that the horse would win
-
a person, event, etc, considered as likely to succeed or occur
it's a good bet that they will succeed
-
a course of action (esp in the phrase one's best bet )
-
informal an opinion; view
my bet is that you've been up to no good
verb
-
to make or place a bet with (a person or persons)
-
(tr) to stake (money, etc) in a bet
-
informal (tr; may take a clause as object) to predict (a certain outcome)
I bet she fails
-
informal of course; naturally
bet
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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betsimple
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betssimple
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have betperfect
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have bettedperfect
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has betperfect
-
has bettedperfect
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am bettingprogressive
-
are bettingprogressive
-
is bettingprogressive
-
have been bettingperfect progressive
-
has been bettingperfect progressive
Past
-
betsimple
-
bettedsimple
-
had betperfect
-
had bettedperfect
-
was bettingprogressive
-
were bettingprogressive
-
had been bettingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bet
First recorded in 1585–95; perhaps special use of obsolete bet “better,” in phrase the bet “the advantage,” i.e., “the odds”
Explanation
To bet is to gamble or risk something valuable against an unknown outcome. Poker players bet on each hand, hoping the cards they hold will beat those of the other players. Sometimes you bet money on a sporting event, wagering on the team you think will win and collecting even more money if it does. It's even more common to bet in a figurative way, saying something like, "I'd be willing to bet that the bus will be late again." The money you risk when you bet is also called a bet. The word probably comes from the now-obsolete noun abet, or "abetment."
Vocabulary lists containing bet
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And with three Big Ten games still left after that, you can bet it won’t be the last time we hear it asked on NBC.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
The bet involves the entire industry: Google and Amazon are at once Anthropic's shareholders, its suppliers and its resellers.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
Washington gets until 2027 to settle its bet.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
Few hedge risk by putting a sportsbook bet on their profit-and-loss statements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
“Besides,” said Janie, “who says you get to name him? I’ll bet I could come up with a way better name than Stripy.”
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
In the new experiments, the researchers again found that BET bromodomain inhibitors slowed the growth of prostate cancer cell lines.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
Even the news that ComicView, the iconic BET stand-up series, was getting a new reboot barely made waves online.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
The research team had previously shown that drugs known as BET bromodomain inhibitors can interfere with pathways that allow prostate cancer cells to activate alternative identity programs.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
The song, a diss track aimed at fellow rapper BIA, includes the lyric “Do she even got a BET award?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
The rest of the guys were inside waiting to make their calls or playing cards or watching rap videos on BET.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
“This is a big bet. These pay packages will not be realized unless Meta achieves massive future success, benefiting all of our shareholders,” a Meta spokesman told Barron’s.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
“This is a big bet. These pay packages will not be realized unless Meta achieves massive future success, benefiting all of our shareholders,” a Meta spokesman said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
Weeks later, Betts came across a tweet that read: “Hey @Dodgers @mookiebetts @SportsNetLA a bet is a bet. Meet Francesca Mookie Mancuso” with a picture of the newborn and her birth certificate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2025
What McNulty said in August: "Top four challenge and a cup are the best bet. Title contenders? No chance."
From BBC ● May 29, 2023
“Oh. My mistake! Seems your name is on the Memory Intact List. Someone’s off to the Bureau, I’ll bet. Best thirty years of my life. Anyways, good afternoon!”
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
It might be early to trim bets on today’s most-exciting story, the AI boom, but history tells us it can help keep you in the game.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
Two low-cost funds are potentially good bets, but they’ve been volatile.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
Generally speaking, however, some individual traders making big bets on chips — and adding leverage to the mix — have gotten hit hard recently.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
It’s a little like going out with a good-looking guy whose Hinge profile said he loves deep conversation, but he spends the date distracted by his Kalshi bets.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026
Goldman would never be so stupid as to make huge naked bets that millions of insolvent Americans would repay their home loans.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Some of those purchases may have been partly driven by hedge funds that had betted against GameStop, trying to cover their positions, and some of those funds made bad losses.
From Reuters ● Oct. 18, 2021
No one betted on Ms. Warren dropping out.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 13, 2019
It was the precursor to the euro but the experience ended in humiliation for Britain when hedge funds, including the Hungarian billionaire George Soros, betted against the pound — and won.
From Fox News ● Apr. 5, 2019
I have money on Wigan staying up, betted a few weeks back.
From BBC ● May 6, 2013
Once we would have said, Mr. Pecksniff quitted the firm, betted on the horses, and wetted his whistle, then wedded his sweetheart in a suit that fitted him perfectly.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
So, in order to compete with ABC in prime time, NBC is betting on Lincoln Riley and the Trojans as its West Coast anchor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
Real Madrid also counts Chinese companies among its main sponsors, with Hisense, sports betting firm Kaiyun Sports, and Linglong Tire all featuring prominently.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
The company is betting on a $30,000 EV pickup truck, slated for next year, to reinvigorate EV sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
Built in 1938, the Littlewoods building was once used to process football pools betting slips, in which people tried to predict the results of matches.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
I’m betting my mom waited and waited, knowing my dad would eventually have to cook something if he wanted to eat.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
