ante
ante Lexical Profile
ante Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An initial price, cost, or level of commitment required to participate in a venture or negotiation, especially in the phrase 'up the ante'.
"The competing firm decided to up the ante by offering a much more generous benefits package."
A mandatory stake put up by a player in poker or a similar card game before receiving cards.
"Each player at the table placed their ante into the pot before the dealer shuffled the deck."
• verb
To put up an initial stake before the deal in poker or a similar card game, or figuratively to pay one's share (often followed by 'up').
"Everyone in the group had to ante up fifty dollars to cover the cost of the cabin rental."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse the prefix or root 'ante-' (from Latin 'ante', meaning before) with its homophone 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti', meaning against or opposite to).
• Rhymes for ante
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 19th century as a poker term directly from the Latin preposition and adverb 'ante', meaning 'before' or 'in front of', referring to stakes placed before the cards are dealt.