bets

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of bet.

   The cashier paid out winning bets as the crowd cheered.

   Friendly bets between the brothers kept the long drive interesting.

   Note

   A count noun with a second life in informal Philippine usage, where a country's or party's bets are its candidates and contestants: the people it is backing in an election, a pageant or an international tournament. Elsewhere the plural mostly counts wagers that are placed, covered and paid out. The same spelling also serves the verb's present tense, so only the word before it separates he bets from his bets.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of bet.

   My uncle bets a small sum on the horses every Saturday.

   Whenever the odds look favorable, she bets without hesitation.

   Note

   The present-tense form carries the verb's working constructions. It readily takes two objects, as in she bets her brother ten dollars that it will rain. At the poker table it names the opening move: whoever first puts money in the pot on a round bets, and the others must match it. Past tense and past participle are both plain bet: he bets today, he bet yesterday, he has bet before.

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