bet
n. countablen. an agreement to risk money on the result of an event, like a race or a game. You use this when you are sure something will happen and want to win money if you are right.
n. a wager or stake placed on the outcome of an unpredictable event. Often used figuratively to describe a choice or opinion that carries a risk of failure.
He placed a small bet on his favorite team to win.
After looking at the dark clouds, my best bet is that it will rain before the picnic starts.
While the startup's technology was unproven, the venture capital firm decided it was a safe bet given the experienced leadership team and growing market demand.
From 16th-century criminal slang, perhaps from Middle English bet (“something better, advantage, luck”), from Old English bet, bett (“better”, adverb); or, alternatively from abet, from Middle English abet, abette, from Old French abet (“incitement to evil”), from Old French abeter (“to entice”), from a- (“to”) + beter (“hound on, urge, to bait”); ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *baitijan (“to bait, entice”), related to Old English bǣtan (“to bait”). More at abet.
From Hebrew בית (bēt).
Abbreviation.
Commonly used in the idiomatic phrase 'one's best bet' to mean the most likely successful course of action.