Meaning & use
ante
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A small stake every player must put into the pot before a hand of cards is dealt, in poker and similar games.
Grammar: Usually singular in practice: pay the ante, but the ante is five dollars.
Patterns
- pay the ante
- an ante of an amount
Everyone at the table had to pay a one-dollar ante before the cards were dealt.
She forgot her ante and had to reach into her pocket for a coin.
The ante was so low that nobody minded losing it.
nounsingularfigurative
The amount of risk, cost or effort involved in a situation, especially when it is raised.
Grammar: Almost always in the idiom up the ante or raise the ante.
Patterns
- up the ante
- raise the ante
The union upped the ante by threatening a nationwide strike.
Rising rents have raised the ante for young people hoping to buy a home.
When the rival firm cut its prices, our manager decided to up the ante with a bigger advertising campaign.
verbtransitive or intransitiveinformal
To put in your stake before a card game begins, or to pay what is owed.
Grammar: Usually with up: ante up.
Patterns
- ante up
- ante something
Come on, everybody ante up so we can start.
He anted five dollars and picked up his cards.
If you want a share of the profits, you will have to ante up like the rest of us.
Word forms
| plural | antes |
|---|---|
| third person singular | antes |
| past tense | anted or anteed |
| -ing form | anteing |
Common combinations
- up the ante
- The protesters upped the ante by camping outside the mayor's office.
- raise the ante
- A second lawsuit raised the ante for the company.
- ante up
- Each member must ante up fifty dollars to join.
- pay the ante
- You pay the ante before you see your cards.
- a high ante
- A high ante keeps casual players away from the table.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stake
- Stake is the general word for money risked on any bet, while ante is the fixed amount paid before play begins.
- stakes
- Stakes describes how much could be won or lost overall, whereas ante is the initial entry payment or, figuratively, the level of risk being raised.
- buy-in
- A buy-in is the larger sum paid to join a whole game or tournament, while an ante is paid again on each hand.
Word family
- anted verb
- past tense form of the verb
- ante up phrasal verb
- to pay what is required
- antebellum adjective
- before a war, especially the American Civil War (unrelated origin of ante- meaning before)
Commonly confused: ante or anti?
ante vs anti
Anti is a prefix or word meaning against, as in anti-war. Ante is the card-game stake and the Latin prefix meaning before.
Practice
When the negotiations stalled, the union decided to ___ by announcing a strike.
Choose one answer.
Up the ante means to raise the level of risk or pressure, which fits a strike threat. The other options are card-game phrases that do not form a natural idiom here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ante”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.