betting

verb

present participle of bet
as in wagering
to risk (something) on the outcome of an uncertain event foolishly bet a week's salary on the World Series

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of betting Peter Faricy is betting that many Americans are going to buy his electric truck. — Morgan Korn, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026 Meanwhile, Porter hopes any new restrictions apply not just to wildfires, but to betting on all natural disasters. — Brady Halbleib, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026 Motion opened the gallery in Kings Cross in a disused betting parlor next door to a kebab shop in 2016 while also holding down a day job. — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 11 Aug. 2026 Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball for betting on the game, including his own team. — USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026 Africa’s dealmakers are betting that the continent’s capital markets are entering a new phase, with a burst of IPO and M&A activity kicking off with Aliko Dangote’s anticipated $5 billion listing of his refinery on the Nigerian Exchange. — Yinka Adegoke, semafor.com, 10 Aug. 2026 With the Fire outperforming preseason projections and several players posting career years, Sarama and lead assistant Brittni Donaldson are betting that adaptable players — not clean-looking practices — are what win in the long run. — Justin Robertson, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026 Trump is betting on economic pressure As negotiations on the Strait of Hormuz drag on, the White House appears to believe that time – and Iran’s deteriorating economy – is on its side. — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026 Westinghouse is betting on a single reactor platform to serve both today’s large nuclear power plants and the next generation of small modular reactors. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 4 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for betting
  1. wagering
  2. putting
  3. gambling
Verb
  • Telehealth platforms aimed at elder care and chronic-disease management have proliferated, wagering that virtual visits and remote monitoring can partly substitute for a geriatrician or sleep specialist who doesn't exist within driving distance.
    — John Samuels, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Federal prosecutors say that Rozier agreed to accept a $100,000 payment to take himself out early from that 2023 Hornets game so that a group of sports gamblers could win money wagering on his prop bets.
    — Mike Vorkunov, New York Times, 31 July 2026
Definition of wagering
Verb
  • Blanchard says putting guardsmen in those relatively safe areas allows local police to concentrate more officers in parts of the city where crime is higher.
    — Steven Beynon, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
  • That lets Nvidia expand its customers' buying power without putting every project on its own balance sheet.
    — Robert J. Szczerba, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of putting
Verb
  • There is some evidence about the mechanism, if not about gambling directly.
    — Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • For Kalshi, which has weathered regulatory fights and ongoing scrutiny from gambling opponents, that ambiguity cuts both ways.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of gambling

Browse Nearby Words

betters
betting
betting (on)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Betting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/betting. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on betting

Nglish: Translation of betting for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of zeugma

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Words of the Week - Aug. 14

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All