Meanings
-
1
verb
To risk money on the result of a race, game, or event.
I bet $100 on the new horse to win the race.
-
2
noun
An agreement to risk money on the result of an event, paid by the loser to the winner.
He won a bet on the football match.
-
3
verb
To feel sure that something is true or will happen.
I bet my team is going to win on Saturday.
Thesaurus
Common collocations
Etymology
From 16th-century criminal slang, perhaps from Middle English bet (“something better, advantage, luck”), from Old English bet, bett (“better”, adverb); or, alternatively from abet, from Middle English abet, abette, from Old French abet (“incitement to evil”), from Old French abeter (“to entice”), from a- (“to”) + beter (“hound on, urge, to bait”); ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *baitijan (“to bait, entice”), related to Old English bǣtan (“to bait”). More at abet.
View etymology graph ->