Bet

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Bet, n. [Prob. from OE. abet abetting, OF. abet, fr. abeter to excite, incite. See Abet.].

 That which is laid, staked, or pledged, as between two parties, upon the event of a contest or any contingent issue; the act of giving such a pledge; a wager.  Goldsmith.  [1913 Webster]

Bet, v. t. 

 To stake or pledge upon the event of a contingent issue; to wager.  [1913 Webster]
"John a Gaunt loved him well, and betted much money on his head."  [1913 Webster]
"I'll bet you two to one I'll make him do it."  [1913 Webster]

Bet, imp. & p. p. 

 imp. & p. p. of Beat.  [1913 Webster]

Bet, a. & adv. 

 An early form of Better.  [1913 Webster]

To go bet, to go fast; to hurry. [Obs.] Chaucer.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Bet, v. & n.
--v. (betting; past and past part. bet or betted)
1 intr. (foll. by on or against with ref. to the outcome) risk a sum of money etc. against another's on the basis of the outcome of an unpredictable event (esp. the result of a race, game, etc., or the outcome in a game of chance).
2 tr. risk (an amount) on such an outcome or result (bet {pound}10 on a horse).
3 tr. risk a sum of money against (a person).
4 tr. colloq. feel sure (bet they've forgotten it).
--n.
1 the act of betting (make a bet).
2 the money etc. staked (put a bet on).
3 colloq. an opinion, esp. a quickly formed or spontaneous one (my bet is that he won't come).
4 colloq. a choice or course of action (she's our best bet).

Idiom

you bet you may be sure.

Etymology

16th c.: perh. a shortened form of ABET

THESAURUS

Bet

ante, ante up, back, bet on, book, call, chunk, cover, fade, gamble, game, handbook, hazard, lay, lay a wager, lay down, make a bet, make book, meet a bet, parlay, pass, play, play against, plunge, pot, predict, prognosticate, punt, put on, risk, see, set, shot, stake, stand pat, take a chance, wager

ROGET THESAURUS

Bet

Chance

N chance, lot, fate, luck, good luck, mascot, speculation, venture, stake, game of chance, mere shot, random shot, blind bargain, leap in the dark, pig in a poke, fluke, potluck, faro bank, flyer, limit, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, drawing lots, sortilegy, sortition, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, rouge et noir, hazard, ante, chuck-a-luck, crack-loo, craps, faro, roulette, pitch and toss, chuck, farthing, cup tossing, heads or tails cross and pile, poker-dice, wager, bet, betting, gambling, the turf, gaming house, gambling house, betting house, bucket shop, gambling joint, totalizator, totalizer, hell, betting ring, dice, dice box, gambler, gamester, man of the turf, adventurer, dicer, fortuitous, unintentional, unintended, accidental, not meant, undesigned, purposed, unpremeditated, unforeseen, uncontemplated, never thought of, random, indiscriminate, promiscuous, undirected, aimless, driftless, designless, purposeless, causeless, without purpose, possible, unforeseeable, unpredictable, chancy, risky, speculative, dicey, randomly, by chance, fortuitously, unpredictably, unforeseeably, casually, unintentionally, unwittingly, en passant, by the way, incidentally, as it may happen, at random, at a venture, at haphazard, acierta errando, dextro tempore, fearful concatenation of circumstances, fortuitous combination of circumstances, le jeu est le fils d'avarice et le pere du desespo, the happy combination of fortuitous circumstances, the fortuitous or casual concourse of atoms, God does not play dice with the universe, chance, indetermination, accident, fortune, hazard, hap, haphazard, chance medley, random, luck, raccroc, casualty, contingence, adventure, hit, fate, equal chance, lottery, tombola, toss up, turn of the table, turn of the cards, hazard of the die, chapter of accidents, fickle finger of fate, cast of the dice, throw of the dice, heads or tails, flip of a coin, wheel of Fortune, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, probability, possibility, odds, long odds, run of luck, accidentalness, main chance, odds on, favorable odds, contingency, dependence (uncertainty), situation (circumstance), statistics, theory of Probabilities, theory of Chances, bookmaking, assurance, speculation, gaming, casual, fortuitous, accidental, adventitious, causeless, incidental, contingent, uncaused, undetermined, indeterminate, random, statistical, possible, unintentional, by chance, accidentally, by accident, casually, perchance, for aught one knows, as good would have it, as bad would have it, as luck would have it, as ill-luck would have it, as chance would have it, as it may be, as it may chance, as it may turn up, as it may happen, as the case may be, grasps the skirts of happy chance, the accident of an accident, There but for the grace of God go I.

VB chance, stand a chance, toss up, cast lots, draw lots, leave to chance, trust to chance, leave to the chapter of accidents, trust to the chapter of accidents, tempt fortune, chance it, take one's chance, take a shot at it (attempt), run the risk, run the chance, incur the risk, incur the chance, encounter the risk, encounter the chance, stand the hazard of the die, speculate, try one's luck, set on a cast, raffle, put into a lottery, buy a pig in a poke, shuffle the cards, risk, venture, hazard, stake, ante, lay, lay a wager, make a bet, wager, bet, gamble, game, play for, play at chuck farthing, chance, hap, turn up, fall to one's lot, be one's fate, stumble on light upon, take one's chance.