ante
n.the amount of money players must put into the pot before a game of cards starts. In daily life, it refers to the cost or risk you must accept to join an activity.
n.a stake put up by a player in poker or similar games before receiving cards; by extension, the cost or level of investment required to participate in an endeavour.
“Each player must pay a five-dollar ante to join the hand.”
“The new competitor raised the ante by offering free shipping on every order, forcing other companies to do the same.”
“In the high-stakes world of semiconductor manufacturing, the ante for entry is billions of dollars in research and development before a single chip is even produced.”
Commonly used in the idiomatic phrase 'up the ante', meaning to increase the costs, risks, or stakes of a situation.
“In Canada, though, we keep upping the ante and inviting the Americans to do the same.”
“Cameron keeps upping the ante, until one becomes convinced the T-1000 is well-nigh invincible.”
Learned borrowing from Latin ante (“before”). Doublet of and.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.