bet

/bɛt/

bet noun: a wager, an agreement between two parties that a stake (usually money) will be paid by the loser to the winner (the winner being the one who correctly forecast the outcome of an event). Also the alternative form of beth.

Noun (1)

bet (plural bets)

A wager, an agreement between two parties that a stake (usually money) will be paid by the loser to the winner (the winner being the one who correctly forecast the outcome of an event).
- Dylan owes Fletcher $30 from an unsuccessful bet.
(Philippines, figuratively, informal) A candidate (for elections and pageants) or competitor (in multinational sports).
Indicating a degree of certainty, or that something can be relied upon.
- It’s a safe bet that it will rain tomorrow.
- There's a decent bet that we'll be able to reach the top of that hill in an hour.

Verb

bet (third-person singular simple present bets, present participle betting, simple past and past participle bet or betted)

(ditransitive, transitive) To stake or pledge upon the outcome of an event; to wager.
- I('ll) bet I can run faster than you.
- I bet you dinner at the Ritz that you can't run faster than me.
(transitive) To be sure of something; to be able to count on something.
- Fancy going for a drink after work? / You bet I do!
To place money into the pot in order to require others do the same, usually only used for the first person to place money in the pot on each round.

Interjection

(African-American Vernacular, slang, chiefly Canada, US)

Expression of general agreement or acceptance.
- Let me bust a freestyle then (Alright, bet)1988, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, “If It Ain't Ruff”, in Straight Outta Compton, performed by N.W.A., track 4
- He asked if KRS could come by and meet up with a few of us there on Monday night, as he wanted to show him the church and have me build with him. Aight, bet.2008 November 5, S.O.U.LMag, number 13, page 66
Exclamation indicating acceptance of a challenge or an absurd proposal.
- What you may not have stopped to consider is that Big Clit Energy (here referred to as B.C.E.) has been around since... BCE! Eve? She looked sin in the eye and said, “Bet.”2018 September 4, The Rice Thresher, volume 103, number 3, Rice University, page 9
- “(Drummer Brenden Accettura) texted me that and was like, ‘Should we name our band The Hot Mess Express?’ and I said, ‘Bet.’ So now that’s our name,” Abbie said, getting words out between laughs.2019 April 30, Key Magazine, Bowling Green State University: BG Falcon Media, page 26
Exclamation of joy at good fortune.
- I started making jokes about him feeling like tough sh*t after that presentation haha. Everyone at school geeked his head up [inflated his ego]. He probably got two fruit cups from the lunch lady that day and said, “Bet! I’m gonna keep doing this!”2019 May 31, CopyWrite Magazine, number 14, page 43

Preposition

bet

between
- insert right-hand needle bet 2 sts just knitted1998, Kristin Nicholas, Knitting the New Classics, page 63

Noun (2) capitalized: BET

BET

(analytical chemistry) An adsorption technique used to measure the specific surface area of a solid, typically using nitrogen gas at a temperature of 77 K.

Proper noun (1) capitalized: BET

BET

(abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Black Entertainment Television.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Bet

Bet

A diminutive of the female name Elizabeth.

Also used as

bet is also the alternative form of beth.

bet meaning in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada

bet in Hindi

to stake or pledge upon the outcome of an event: बाज़ी bāzī

bet in Telugu

a wager: పందెము pandemu

bet in Malayalam

പന്തയം വെക്കാൻ, പന്തയം വെയ്ക്കാൻ, പന്തയം വയ്ക്കുക

bet in Kannada

ಪಂತ, ಬಾಜಿ, ಬಾಜಿ ಕಟ್ಟಲು

More languagesFewer languages

bet in Odia: ବାଜି, ବାଜି ଲଗାନ୍ତୁ, ବାଜି ଲଗାଇବାକୁ
bet in Nepali: बाजी bājī
bet in Tagalog: patnaw, pusta, pumusta
bet in Arabic: رِهَان rihān, مُرَاهَنَة murāhana, رَاهَنَ rāhana
bet in Indonesian: taruh
bet in Thai: การเดิมพัน, พนัน pá-nan, เดิมพัน dəəm-pan
bet in Vietnamese: cá, cược, cá cược

Examples of bet in a sentence

It’s an even bet that Jim will come top of the maths test tomorrow.
There's a good bet that Sally will arrive later.
I bet(ted) her £5 it wouldn't rain all week.
John a Gaunt loved him well, and betted much money on his head.c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares...
I'll bet you two to one I'll make him do it.1858, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Deacon's Masterpiece or The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay:
“Bet,” Jimenez replied, because she kind of pissed him off with that comment.2017 November 6, The DePaulia, volume 102, number 8, DePaul University, published 4 November 2017, page 20:

All 40 example sentences with bet

Forms of bet

Noun
plural	bets
Verb
third-person singular present	bets
present participle	betting
past participle	bet
past	bet
past participle	betted
past	betted

Past tense of bet: bet

Plural of bet: bets

Origin of bet

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.

From Hebrew בית (bēt).

Abbreviation.

Phrases with bet

Words that rhyme with bet

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about bet

What does bet mean?: Bet means a wager, an agreement between two parties that a stake (usually money) will be paid by the loser to the winner (the winner being the one who correctly forecast the outcome of an event).
What is bet in Hindi?: Bet in Hindi is बाज़ी (bāzī). See Bet meaning in Hindi.
How do you use bet in a sentence?: It’s an even bet that Jim will come top of the maths test tomorrow.
What part of speech is bet?: Bet can be a noun, a verb, an interjection or a preposition.
How do you pronounce bet?: Bet is pronounced /bɛt/.
What is the plural of bet?: The plural of bet is bets.

Words near bet in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: bet (page history and authors); BET (page history and authors); Bet (page history and authors); bet (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bet (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bet (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bet.ogg.

Cite this entry: “bet.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.