Meaning & use
wager
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Meanings
nouncountable
An amount of money or something valuable that you risk on the result of an uncertain event; a bet.
Grammar: Countable: a wager, wagers. Often used with 'place' or 'make'.
Patterns
- place a wager
- make a wager
- a wager on something
He placed a large wager on the horse race.
They made a friendly wager about who would arrive first.
The wager was that the loser would buy dinner.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To risk money or something valuable on the outcome of an uncertain event.
Grammar: Can take an object: wager money; or be used without: they wagered on the game.
Patterns
- wager on something
- wager something on something
- wager that
She wagered $100 on the final score.
I wouldn't wager on the weather being nice tomorrow.
He wagered that his team would win the championship.
Word forms
| plural | wagers |
|---|---|
| third person singular | wagers |
| past tense | wagered |
| past participle | wagered |
| -ing form | wagering |
Common combinations
- place a wager
- You can place a wager at the betting window.
- a safe wager
- Investing in that company is not a safe wager.
- wager on
- He wagered on the underdog and won.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bet
- More common and informal; 'wager' is slightly more formal and often used in legal or literary contexts.
- gamble
- Emphasizes the risk of losing money; 'wager' focuses on the specific amount risked.
Word family
- wagering noun
- The activity of making bets.
Commonly confused: wager or wages?
wager vs wages
Wages are regular payments for work; a wager is a bet.
Practice
He ______ a week's salary on the poker game.
Choose one answer.
The sentence describes a completed past action, so the past tense 'wagered' is needed. 'Wager' is the base form and would be incorrect unless the sentence is present tense, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wager”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.