# bet

Pronunciation: say "BET" /ˈbɛt/

## Verb

1. To risk money or something valuable on the outcome of an event or game, including making a wager in a round of poker.
   - Simple: To risk money or something valuable on how something will turn out, hoping to win more.
   - _Thousands of fans bet money on the championship game each year._
   - _She bet a week's wages on the underdog and lost._
2. To feel certain about something; to be able to count on it.
   - Simple: To feel very sure that something is true.
   - _I bet the bus is running behind because of the snow._
   - _You can bet he'll have an excuse ready when he arrives._

## Noun

3. An agreement between two parties in which the one who wrongly predicts an outcome pays a stake, usually money, to the other.
   - Simple: An agreement where people risk money on what will happen, and the loser pays the winner.
   - _He placed a bet on the home team to win the championship._
   - _Their friendly bet over the election results cost him dinner._
4. Something regarded as likely to succeed, prove reliable, or turn out true, such as a choice or a prediction, usually graded by an adjective, as in a safe bet or an even bet.
   - Simple: A choice or guess that is likely to work out or turn out true, as in 'a safe bet.'
   - _If you want a table by the window, your best bet is to book a few weeks ahead._
   - _If you want fresh produce, the farmers' market is a good bet._
6. What a person puts at stake in a wager, whether a sum of money or some other thing of value.
   - Simple: The money or other valuable thing that a person risks on a guess about what will happen.
   - _On weekends the casino raises the minimum bet at its blackjack tables to twenty-five dollars._
   - _Neither of them had any cash, so each laid a wristwatch on the table as his bet._
5. A person's guess or prediction about what is true or what will probably happen. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: What you think is true or will probably happen, a guess about how things are or will turn out.
   - _My bet is that the team trades him before the deadline._
   - _Our bet was that the twins would show up late, and sure enough, they walked in after dinner had started._
8. Another spelling of beth: the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet (ב) and of related Semitic alphabets. — Alternative form of beth (“Semitic letter”).
   - Simple: Another spelling of beth: the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet and related Semitic alphabets.
   - _In Hebrew, bet is the second letter of the alphabet._
   - _The scribe carefully formed each bet in the manuscript._

## Interjection

7. Used as a reply to say yes, agree, accept a challenge or show you are pleased. *(slang, Canada, US)*
   - Simple: A short reply that means okay, yes, deal, or that sounds great.
   - _You bringing snacks to the game? Bet._
   - _Let's run it back tomorrow. Bet, same time._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A person or competitor chosen to represent a country or group in an election, pageant, or international sporting event.
- (preposition) A written abbreviation of "between," used in knitting patterns.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–7** — The word first shows up in 16th-century criminal slang. One possible source is Middle English bet ("something better, advantage, luck"), which came from Old English bet, bett, meaning "better." Another is abet, from Old French abet ("incitement to evil") and the verb abeter ("to entice"), which go back ultimately to Proto-West Germanic *baitijan ("to bait, entice").
**Meaning 8** — This comes from Hebrew בית (bēt).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bet (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).