wager

noun

wa·ger | \ ˈwā-jər

Definition of wager

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : something (such as a sum of money) risked on an uncertain event : stake

b : something on which bets are laid : gamble do a stunt as a wager

2 archaic : an act of giving a pledge to take and abide by the result of some action

wager

verb

wagered; wagering\ ˈwāj-riŋ ,

ˈwā-jə- \

Definition of wager (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

: to make a bet

transitive verb

: to risk or venture on a final outcome specifically : to lay as a gamble : bet wager $5 on a horse

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Synonyms for wager

Synonyms: Noun

bet, stake

Synonyms: Verb

bet, gamble, go, lay, play, put, stake

Examples of wager in a Sentence

Noun

He has a wager on the game. I don't think the horse will win. What's your wager?

Verb

She wagered $50 on the game. I wouldn't wager against them.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Hedge funds and other speculative investors have cut bullish oil wagers in 14 of the past 15 weeks. — Amrith Ramkumar, WSJ, "Fears Loomed Large in Oil’s Worst Quarter Since 2014," 1 Jan. 2019 The existing sports lottery has taken in about $46 million in wagers annually over the past two years, with an average net of about 25 percent. — Randall Chase, Houston Chronicle, "Delaware casinos to begin sports betting next week," 31 May 2018 Five months after making a friendly wager with Hernandez, Dodgers owner Mark Walter made good on his promise to donate to reconstruction in Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. — Andy Mccullough, latimes.com, "Dodgers stint likely over for Trayce Thompson after he is designated for assignment," 28 Mar. 2018 Marianas founder Will Snellings at one point described the wager to a potential investor as perhaps his greatest deal. — Juliet Chung, WSJ, "Juul’s Soaring Valuation Is a Boon for Hedge Funds," 13 Dec. 2018 The deal also won't stop other casino companies from offering wagers on NBA games, including prop bets that rely on results other than the final score. — Fox News, "NBA strikes deal with MGM Resorts to provide data to bettors," 31 July 2018 But the regulators warned that sports-wagering gross revenue figures may be volatile on a monthly basis since payouts for future events, such as the Super Bowl, could occur months after the original wager was made. — Andrew Maykuth, Philly.com, "N.J.'s sports betting generates $294K in taxes," 12 July 2018 Surprisingly, the wager won’t have any money involved, despite the sheer amount of gambling that involves coin in the casinos every day. — Katherine Fominykh, baltimoresun.com, "Vegas' Caesars Palace and Baltimore's Horseshoe Casino are betting on Stanley Cup finals," 1 June 2018 When the live action starts, the wagers move into overdrive, as thousands of fans gamble on every conceivable outcome. — Andy Rosen, BostonGlobe.com, "The future of sports viewing — a flurry of in-game bets," 17 May 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

There is a Pick 6 carryover of more than $13,000 heading into Friday’s eight-race program at Los Alamitos, which means that the total Pick 6 pool with the new money wagered could be more than $50,000. — John Cherwa, latimes.com, "Racing! Jon White’s first Belmont rankings," 25 May 2018 That's just a guess, but the amount wagered would figure to at least marginally increase with legalization. — Sam Mellinger, kansascity, "Mellinger Minutes: Jorts, why should you go to the ballpark, and when can we start gambling? | The Kansas City Star," 15 May 2018 Dowd's findings documented alleged bets on 52 Reds games in 1987, where Rose wagered a minimum of $10,000 a day. — Reid Laymance, Houston Chronicle, "The biggest sports gambling scandals," 14 May 2018 In essence, investors are wagering on the health of U.S. consumers, who have once again built up record stockpiles of household debt but haven’t shown much trouble repaying it. — Ben Eisen, WSJ, "Investors Rev Up the Risk in Subprime Auto Deals," 1 Dec. 2018 Unikrn immediately began rolling out to 20 countries a variety of online products, and will soon bring esports wagering to most of Europe, South Korea and other Asian countries, and parts of Latin America. — Jake Seiner, The Seattle Times, "Esport betting platform gets license for video game gambling," 23 Oct. 2018 New Jersey advocates of sports wagering won an epic battle to legalize betting. — Andrew Maykuth, Philly.com, "N.J. racetrack that won legal battle over sports betting now wants NFL, NBA to pay up," 9 July 2018 The move comes only a few days after Delaware legalized the practice, as well as a years-long lawsuit that overturned a 1992 federal prohibition on sports wagering by the Supreme Court. — Editors, USA TODAY, "Lawmakers talk immigration, Stanley Cup Finals, NASA releases Mars info: 5 things to know Thursday," 7 June 2018 The case, which has been winding its way through the federal courts since 2012, involved the state of New Jersey’s attempt to overturn the federal ban on single-game sports wagering outside of Nevada. — John Wolohan, Fortune, "How Legal Sports Betting Could Benefit the Pro Leagues," 21 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wager.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

19 Jan 2019

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Time Traveler for wager

The first known use of wager was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for wager

wager

noun

English Language Learners Definition of wager

(Entry 1 of 2)

: an agreement in which people try to guess what will happen and the person who guesses wrong has to give something (such as money) to the person who guesses right

: the money or other valuable thing that you could win or lose in a bet

wager

verb

English Language Learners Definition of wager (Entry 2 of 2)

: to risk losing something (such as money) if your guess about what will happen is wrong

—used in the phrase I'll wager to indicate what you think will happen or what you believe is probably true

See the full definition for wager in the English Language Learners Dictionary

wager

noun

wa·ger | \ ˈwā-jər