13 PHRASE You use ' You bet ' or ' you bet your life ' to say yes in an emphatic way or to emphasize a reply or statement. [INFORMAL , SPOKEN , EMPHASIS ] □ 'It's settled, then?'—'You bet.' □ 'Are you afraid of snakes?'—'You bet your life I'm afraid of snakes.' SYNONYMS bet VERB 1
gamble: John gambled heavily on the horses.
stake: He has staked his reputation on the outcome. NOUN 1
gamble: …the French president's risky gamble in calling a referendum.
stake: The game was usually played for high stakes between two large groups.
beta block|er /biː tə blɒkə r , [AM ] be I tə -/ (beta blockers ) N‑COUNT A beta blocker is a drug which is used to treat people who have high blood pressure or heart problems.
bete noire /bet nwɑː r / also bête noire N‑SING [oft with poss] If you refer to someone or something as your bete noire , you mean that you have a particular dislike for them or that they annoy you a great deal. □ Our real bete noire is the car boot sale.
be|tide /b I ta I d/ PHRASE If you say woe betide anyone who does a particular thing, you mean that something unpleasant will happen to them if they do it. [FORMAL ] □ Woe betide anyone who got in his way.
be|to|ken /b I toʊ kən/ (betokens , betokening , betokened ) VERB If something betokens something else, it is a sign of this thing. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] The president alone betokened the national identity.
be|tray /b I tre I / (betrays , betraying , betrayed )
1 VERB If you betray someone who loves or trusts you, your actions hurt and disappoint them. □ [V n] When I tell someone I will not betray his confidence, I keep my word. □ [V n] The President betrayed them when he went back on his promise not to raise taxes. ● be|tray|er (betrayers ) N‑COUNT □ She was her friend and now calls her a betrayer.
2 VERB If someone betrays their country or their friends, they give information to an enemy, putting their country's security or their friends' safety at risk. □ [V n] They offered me money if I would betray my associates. □ [V n + to ] The group were informers, and they betrayed the plan to the Germans. ● be|tray|er N‑COUNT □ [+ of ] 'Traitor!' she screamed. 'Betrayer of England!'
3 VERB If you betray an ideal or your principles, you say or do something which goes against those beliefs. □ [V n] We betray the ideals of our country when we support capital punishment. ● be|tray|er N‑COUNT □ Babearth regarded the middle classes as the betrayers of the Revolution.
4 VERB If you betray a feeling or quality, you show it without intending to. □ [V n] She studied his face, but it betrayed nothing.
be|tray|al /b I tre I əl/ (betrayals ) N‑VAR A betrayal is an action which betrays someone or something, or the fact of being betrayed. □ [+ of ] She felt that what she had done was a betrayal of Patrick.
be|troth|al /b I troʊ ð ə l/ (betrothals ) N‑VAR A betrothal is an agreement to be married. [OLD-FASHIONED ]
be|trothed /b I troʊ ðd/ ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If you are betrothed to someone, you have agreed to marry them. [OLD-FASHIONED ] ● N‑SING [usu poss N ] Your betrothed is the person you are betrothed to.
bet|ter ◆◆◆ /be tə r / (betters , bettering , bettered )
1 Better is the comparative of good .
2 Better is the comparative of well .
3 ADV [ADV after v] If you like one thing better than another, you like it more. □ I like your interpretation better than the one I was taught. □ They liked it better when it rained.
4 ADJ [v-link ADJ ] If you are better after an illness or injury, you have recovered from it. If you feel better , you no longer feel so ill. □ He is much better now, he's fine. □ The doctors were saying there wasn't much hope of me getting better.
5 PHRASE You use had better or 'd better when you are advising, warning, or threatening someone, or expressing an opinion about what should happen. □ It's half past two. I think we had better go home. □ You'd better run if you're going to get your ticket. ● In spoken English, people sometimes use better without 'had' or 'be' before it. It has the same meaning. □ You better not say too much aloud.
6 PRON If you say that you expect or deserve better , you mean that you expect or deserve a higher standard of achievement, behaviour, or treatment from people than they have shown you. □ Our long-suffering mining communities deserve better than this.
7 VERB If someone betters a high achievement or standard, they achieve something higher. □ [V n] He recorded a time of 4 minutes 23, bettering the old record of 4-24.
8 VERB If you better your situation, you improve your social status or the quality of your life. If you better yourself , you improve your social status. □ [V n] Others dreamed of owning land and of bettering their social position. □ [V pron-refl] Our parents chose to come here with the hope of bettering themselves.
9 Better is used to form the comparative of compound adjectives beginning with 'good' and 'well.' For example, the comparative of 'well-off' is 'better-off.'
10 PHRASE You can say that someone is better doing one thing than another, or it is better doing one thing than another, to advise someone about what they should do. □ Wouldn't it be better putting a time-limit on the task? □ Subjects like this are better left alone.