wager

noun

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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 For instance, Gulabi Devi, a Bhopal resident, claimed that her son, a daily wager, fell ill 10 days after receiving the trial shot. — Manavi Kapur, Quartz India, "Grave ethical allegations hound India’s homegrown Covid-19 vaccine as it prepares for rollout," 12 Jan. 2021 Biden’s economic plan rests on a daring wager that rates stay low. — Rey Mashayekhi, Fortune, "Exclusive: Goldman reveals first look at new Marcus Invest platform," 22 Jan. 2021 The options market tied to Tesla has swelled, with more than half a trillion dollars in contracts recently outstanding, making Tesla the most popular wager on a company ever, according to Henry Schwartz, senior director at Cboe Global Markets. — Michael Wursthorn, WSJ, "Tesla Bulls Double Down as Stock Reaches New Heights," 20 Dec. 2020 Thody lambasted the detective in an internal message to the department Friday evening and preemptively shut down any retorts that the wager could be construed as harmless or funny. — Zach Murdock, courant.com, "Hartford detective disciplined for creating ‘dead pool’ for officers to wager on location of first murder of 2021, chief says," 4 Dec. 2020 The mystery bettor used private bookmakers registered on the Caribbean island of Curacao to make the wager, according to the Sun. — Zachary Halaschak, Washington Examiner, "Hundreds of millions of dollars pending as betting sites pump brakes on calling election for Biden," 13 Nov. 2020 Overall in 2020, the Oregon Lottery Scoreboard app had 39,952 unique bettors with an average wager of $30.61. — oregonlive, "Table tennis outpaced baseball and hockey in wagering on Oregon Lottery’s Scoreboard app in 2020," 9 Jan. 2021 In 1995, a WIRED cofounder challenged a Luddite-loving doomsayer to a prescient wager on tech and civilization’s fate. — Steven Levy, Wired, "A 25-Year-Old Bet Comes Due: Has Tech Destroyed Society?," 5 Jan. 2021 Giuliani is now the most popular wager on the board. — Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, "What are the Odds That Trump Pardons Himself?," 14 Dec. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Stop by the Tourney Grounds near Beauclair and wager your money (or your life) against the ferocious Shaelmaar. — Shelly Tan, Washington Post, "Five sensational vacation destinations from the virtual worlds of video games," 25 Feb. 2021 As is tradition with the Super Bowl in the world of sports betting, the nearly endless lists of prop bets are now available for consumption, and even the former Cowboys quarterback is in on some of the action that fans can wager on. — Joey Hayden, Dallas News, "Super Bowl prop bets: Will Tony Romo correctly predict an offensive play during Chiefs-Bucs?," 3 Feb. 2021 In one instance, Comma.ai founder George Hotz used Twitter to wager that Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software will not have achieved full (Level 5) autonomy by January 2022. — Roberto Baldwin, Car and Driver, "Tesla's Elon Musk Challenged (via Twitter) to Run Baja 1000 in Cybertruck," 5 Jan. 2021 The polls typically lean Democratic, while the gaming odds tilt Republican because the gamblers are typically male, well-educated, and often wager on football or basketball (all demographics that lean toward the GOP). — Shawn Tully, Fortune, "Georgia Senate races: Data scientist’s final prediction has Democrats taking both seats," 5 Jan. 2021 The contracts allow investors to put down a relatively small sum to wager on the stock market’s direction. — Gunjan Banerji, WSJ, "Stocks Surge in Crazy Year for Financial Markets," 1 Jan. 2021 Around the Track Looks like Saturday rains will force the turf races to the main track so wager lightly on those races where there are short fields and unproven form. — Michael Beychok, NOLA.com, "Check out Chok's Choices for Sunday's Fair Grounds races," 19 Dec. 2020 Fans can watch and wager on Laurel Park and the Stronach 5 at 1st.com/bet and xpressbet.com. — Baltimore Sun Staff, baltimoresun.com, "Towson, Morgan State welcome football commitments during early signing period," 17 Dec. 2020 Lawyers for the families of four deceased Waterloo workers allege in lawsuits that plant manager Tom Hart organized a buy-in betting pool for supervisors to wager on what percentage of plant workers would test positive for COVID-19. — Ryan J. Foley, chicagotribune.com, "Tyson fires 7 Iowa pork plant managers accused of betting on how many workers would get COVID-19," 17 Dec. 2020

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

28 Feb 2021

Cite this Entry

“Wager.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wager. Accessed 5 Mar. 2021.

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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

informal —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