▪ I. bet, n.
(bɛt)
Also 7–8 bett.
[Of uncertain origin; nor is it clear whether the n. or the vb. was the starting-point; if the n., we may perhaps see in it an aphetic form of abet n. in the sense of ‘instigation, encouragement, support, maintaining of a cause’: see the quotation from Spenser under abet n. 2. The vb. would then be derived from the n., as in the case of wager n. and v. It is less easy to get from the sense of abet v. to that of bet v., since the original construction ought then to be, not ‘to bet money on a champion,’ etc., but ‘to bet (i.e. abet) a champion with money,’ of which no trace is found. See however abet v. 4 in sense of ‘to bet that.’
(The suggestion that bet is:—early ME. beot, ‘vow, promise, threat,’ has no support in the history or phonology.)]
1. a. The backing of an affirmation or forecast by offering to forfeit, in case of an adverse issue, a sum of money or article of value, to one who by accepting, maintains the opposite, and backs his opinion by a corresponding stipulation; the staking of money or other value on the event of a doubtful issue; a wager; also, the sum of money or article staked. an even bet (fig.): an equal chance, a balance of probabilities. a good bet, best bet (fig.) (orig. U.S.): a satisfactory choice; the person, thing, or course most likely to succeed. my bet is (colloq.): = ‘I bet’, my opinion is.
(The first quotation is quite uncertain in meaning.)
| [c 1460 Towneley Myst. 87 Ye fyshe before the nett, And stryfe on this bett, Siche folys never I mett.] 1592 Greene Art Conny catch. ii. 7 Certaine old sokers, which are lookers on, and listen for bets, either euen or od. c 1614 Drayton Mis. Q. Margaret (1748) 151 For a long time it was an even bet..Whether proud Warwick or the Queen should win. 1646 Buck Rich. III, ii. 60 Might have brought the odds of that day to an even bet. 1735 Pope Mor. Ess. i. 86 His pride was in Piquette, Newmarket fame, and judgment at a Bett. 1818 Byron Beppo xxvii, And there were several offer'd any bet, Or that he would, or that he would not come. 1871 Kingsley in Life & Lett. (1879) II. 271 Plenty of bets pass on every race, which are practically quite harmless. |
| 1906 H. Green Actors' Boarding House 224 He hailed his juicy jay as the one best bet of a good afternoon. 1923 Wodehouse Inimit. Jeeves vi. 71 ‘The fact is, Sir Roderick is being rather troublesome.’ ‘Thinks I'm not a good bet? Wants to scratch the fixture? Well, perhaps he's right.’ 1941 L. A. G. Strong Bay viii. 190 Keep that up... It's our best bet. 1947 ‘N. Blake’ Minute for Murder viii. 168 On the face of it, he's the best bet... He provided the poison. 1958 Times Rev. Industry May 52/3 Speculating on possible markets... Packaging film and pipes are considered the ‘best bet’. |
| 1954 J. B. Priestley Magicians vi. 134 My bet is there's been a fair amount of swift dirty work round here while poor little hubby's been kept at his lab. 1958 Listener 25 Sept. 468/2 My bet is that the listening audience would decrease rapidly. |
b. An amount staked on the result of a card-game; spec. in faro (see quot. 1909); heeled bet: see heeled ppl. a.
| 1796 C. Jones Hoyle's Games Improved (new ed.) 276 The Game of Faro... He may masque his Bets, or change his Cards whenever he pleases. 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXVI. 32/1 The dealer [at Lansquenet] ..proceeds to play, having first covered, that is, placed an equal sum near the sums staked by the players, to demonstrate to each that he has accepted his bet. 1844 [see ante n.2]. 1880 J. Blackbridge Compl. Poker-Player xix. 129 When a player makes a bet, the next player must either see him..or go better, i.e., make the previous bet good..or he must pass out. 1891 ‘L. Hoffmann’ Cycl. Card Games 202 If a player bets, or raises a bet, and no other player goes better, or calls him, he wins the pool. 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Bet, in faro, a card which is a case, that is, the only one of that denomination remaining in the box: so called because the player cannot be split. |
2. A challenge contest.
| 1843 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. xi. 59 A great bet, as a game [at bowls] was called, came off on Cockburnspath Green in 1807 or 1808. |
▪ II. bet, v.
(bɛt)
Also 7–8 bett. Pa. tense and pple. bet; also betted.
[See prec.]
a. trans. To stake or wager (a sum of money, etc.) in support of an affirmation or on the issue of a forecast.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 50 Iohn of Gaunt loued him well, and betted much Money on his head. ? a 1600 Rob. Hood (Ritson) ii. xii. 105 Said the bishop then, Ile not bet one peny. 1727 Pope, etc. Bathos 110 These on your side will all their fortunes bet. 1849 Dickens Dav. Copp. ii. (C.D. ed.) 16 I'll as good as bet a guinea..that she'll let us go. 1876 O. W. Holmes How Old Horse won Bet Poems (1884) 309 I'll bet you two to one I'll make him do it. |
b. absol. To lay a wager. you bet (slang, chiefly in U.S.): be assured, certainly; also you bet you.
| 1609 Rowlands Knaue Clubbes 4 At Bedlem-bowling alley late, Where Cittizens did bet: And threw their mony on the ground. 1628 Earle Microcosm. xlviii. 101 He enjoys it [gambling] that looks on and bets not. 1711 Act 9 Anne in Lond. Gaz. No. 4863/2 If such Person..shall..at any one time..Play or Bett for any Sum. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown, Brandy punch going, I'll bet. 1857 Phoenix (Sacramento) 22 Nov. 2/2, I saw all the ‘boys’, and distributed to them the papers and ‘you bet’, they were in great demand. 1858 Thackeray Virgin. II. xv. 114, I don't bet on horses I don't know. 1868 O. W. Holmes Once More Poems (1884) 224 ‘Is it loaded?’ ‘I'll bet you! What doesn't it hold?’ 1868 [see sense c]. 1872 ‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It xx. 152 ‘I'll get you there on time’ and you bet you he did, too. 1882 Sk. Texas Siftings 131 ‘Are you drunk?’ ‘You bet.’ ‘Then you move off from here.’ 1910 S. E. White Rules of Game v. xxxiv, ‘He's a quick thinker, then,’ said Bob. ‘You bet you!’ 1928 D. L. Sayers Lord Peter views Body iv. 68 ‘Can you handle this outfit?’ ‘You bet,’ said the scout. |
c. In various (orig. U.S.) slang asseverative phrases meaning: to stake everything or all one's resources (upon the truth of an assertion).
| 1852 San Francisco Sun. Dispatch 18 Jan. 1/5 He's around when there's money in the pipe—bet your life on t-h-a-t. 1856 Spirit of Times (N.Y.) 6 Sept. 3/3 You may bet your old boots on that. 1865 B. Harte Poet. Wks. (1872) 81 Smart! You bet your life 'twas that! 1866, etc. [see bottom dollar s.v. bottom n. 20]. 1868 All Year Round 31 Oct. 489/2 ‘You bet’ or ‘You bet yer life’, or ‘You bet yer bones’, while to ‘bet your boots’ is confirmation strong as holy writ—in the mines, at least. 1913 Wodehouse Little Nugget i. i. 14 ‘You will order yourself something substantial, marvel-child?’ ‘Bet your life,’ said the son and heir tersely. 1933 M. Lowry Ultramarine 39 ‘You bet your boots,’ he replied. 1957 P. Frank Seven Days to Never i. 22 He would bet his bottom dollar..that his target would be one of those bases. |
Also in corrupt forms (I, you, etc.) betcha, betcher, representing colloq. pronunciation of bet you or your (life).
| 1922 ‘R. Crompton’ Just—William ix. 174 You betcher life! 1936 Wodehouse Laughing Gas v. 61 ‘You're home-sick, what?’ ‘You betcher.’ 1936 F. Clune Roaming round Darling xxii. 219 Andrew Hume..had said one day to the governor of the prison, ‘Betcher I know where to find the sole survivor of the Leichhardt expedition.’ ‘Betcher!’ mocked the governor. 1940 G. Butler Kiss Blood off Hands v. 82, I collared a kid..and asked him if he wanted to earn a shilling. ‘You betcha, mister,’ he said. 1962 J. Ludwig in R. Weaver First Five Years 29 Your tea's cold, I betcha. |
▪ III. † bet, adv. (and a.) Obs.
Forms: 1–7 bet (3–6 bett, 4–6 bette).
[Com. Teut.: OE. bęt = OFris. bet, OS. bat, bet (MDu. bat, bet, Du. bet-), OHG., MHG. baȥ (mod.G. basz), ON. betr, Goth. batis:—OTeut. *batiz adv., the uninflected comparative stem, whence was formed the adj. *batizon-, in OE. bętera, better. In the adv. the comparative ending -iz underwent the same phonetic changes as the formative -iz of nouns, and was thus reduced to -e, or lost entirely before the OE. period. (Bęt, for the expected bęte, probably followed lęng, sęft, etc.) About the end of the OE. or beginning of the ME. period, bet(e)re, the neuter gender of the adj., began to be used, in certain constructions, in the place of bet, and, after a long existence side by side, gradually superseded it about 1600: instances of bet just before, and especially after, 1600 are archaisms. This encroachment of betere, beter, better upon bet began in phrases where the adj. and adv. are not easily separated, as in hit is bet or betere (positive ‘it is well’ or ‘good’), and gradually extended to others; the final ascendancy of better was doubtless helped by the fact that bet and other comparatives of the same type (e.g. leng, near) had not the ordinary comparative sign, and were thus less definite in expression. As in similar cases, during the time that bet and better were interchangeable as adverbs, bet was by compensation sometimes used for better as adjective.]
I. adv. (and predicative adj.)
1. The earlier form of better, the comparative of well.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxiii, Ðæt se hwæte mæᵹe ðy bet weaxan. a 1200 Moral Ode 15 in Trin. Coll. Hom. 220 Ich mihte habben bet idon. c 1205 Lay. 28560 Wha dude wurse, no wha bet. 1297 R. Glouc. 209 Hys men truste þe bet to hym. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. viii. 123 Where do-wel, do-bet, and do-best ben in lond. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 126 One justeth wel, another bet. 1423 Jas. I, King's Q. ci, Ȝe knaw the cause of all my peynes smert Bet than myself. 1466 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 109 And graunt me grace ai bett & bett. c 1570 Thynne Pride & Lowl. (1841) 20 No Auditor, ne Clerke of Check Can penne it bet then he. 1586 J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 71 We dezerue full bet then they. |
2. As predicate after be; interchanging with the neuter adj. betere. (In quots. 1386, 1575, its adjective function is distinct.) Cf. better A 4.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 145 Him is wel..him is ec muchele bet þet is ilaðed from muchele wowe. c 1200 Ormin 5548 Þatt hemm baþe beo þe bett. c 1205 Lay. 870 Hit is þe bet mid us. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶465 Therfore saith a wise man, that ire is bet than play. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. vi, Bett were me to deye, Than liue ashamed. c 1575 Gascoigne Fruites Warre (1831) 209, I termed have all strife To be no bet than warres. a 1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary in Dodsley (1780) X. 251 Sin it may be no bet now gang in peace. |
II. absol. and quasi-n.
3. the bet: the advantage: cf. better A. 8.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 7642 (Trin.) Wiþ þat folke soone he met And wiȝtly wan of hem þe bet [v.r. his dete]. 1592 W. Wyrley Armorie 118 It seemd the Frenchmen had the bet. |
4. one's bette: cf. better A. 7. rare.
| 1494 Fabyan vii. ccxl 281 No man I thought my bette. |
▪ IV. † bet, adv.2 Obs.
[Origin and meaning doubtful.]
In go bet. (Prof. Skeat takes it as = go better, i.e. go quicker.)
| c 1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 339 Go bet, quod he, and axe redily what cors is this. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 1005 The maystir made hys hor go bete. a 1528 Skelton El. Rummyng 331 And bad Elynour go bet, And fyll good met. c 1600 Parl. Byrdes 148 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 174 Here is nought els with friende nor foe, But go bet peny go bet go. 1617 Frere & Boye 300 ibid. III. 73 Ye hath made me daunce, maugre my hede, Amonge the thornes, hey go bette. |
▪ V. bet
obs. and Sc. pa. tense of beat v.1; dial. form of beet v.