Search the Dictionary

n unsettled question; a bet; a stake; a pledge. Besides these plates for horse races, the wagers may be as the persons please. Sir W. Temple. If any atheist can stake his soul for a wager against such an inexhaustible disproportion, let him never hereafter accuse others of credulity. Bentley.

One who wagers, or lays a bet.

Hazarding; pertaining to the act of one who wagers. Wagering policy. (Com.) See Wager policy, under Policy.

ame name; -- chiefly applied to widows of personages of rank. With prudes for proctors, dowagers for deans. Tennyson. Queen dowager, the widow of a king.

The rank or condition of a dowager; formality, as that of a dowager. Also used figuratively. Mansions that have passed away into dowagerism. Thackeray.

A single combat; as, trial by battel. See Wager of battel, under Wager.

, upon the event of a contest or any contingent issue; the act of giving such a pledge; a wager. "Having made his bets." Goldsmith.

One who bets or lays a wager.

actice of justifying or confirming a man's veracity by the oath of others; -- called also wager of law. See Purgation; also Wager of law, under Wager.

ho bears testimony or swears to the veracity or innocence of another. See Purgation; also Wager of law, under Wager. All they who know me . . . will say they have reason in this matter to be my compurgators. Chillingworth.

To lay, as a stake; to wager. [Obs.] Hudibras.

To give or deposit as a pledge or security for some act; to wage or wager; to pawn or pledge. [Obs.] A moiety competent Was gaged by our king. Shak.

The act or practice of playing games for stakes or wagers; gambling.

To bet or wager; as, I'll go you a shilling. [Colloq.] To go halves, to share with another equally. -- To go it, to behave in a wild manner; to be uproarious; to carry on; also, to proceed; to make progress. [Colloq.] -- To go it alone (Card Playing), to play a hand without the assistance of one's partner. -- To go i…

To reduce the risk of a wager by making a bet against the side or chance one has bet on.

lds himself erect; he holds his head high. Let him hold his fingers thus. Shak. To hold a wager, to lay or hazard a wager. Swift. -- To hold forth, to offer; to exhibit; to propose; to put forward. "The propositions which books hold forth and pretend to teach." Locke. -- To held in, to restrain; to curd. -- To hold…

To stake; to wager; to pledge. [Obs.] Against the which he has imponed, as I take it, six French rapiers and poniards. Shak.

An oath, as in the presence of a court. [Obs.] See Wager of law, under Wager. Avogadro's law (Chem.), a fundamental conception, according to which, under similar conditions of temperature and pressure, all gases and vapors contain in the same volume the same number of ultimate molecules; -- so named after Avogadro, an…

To deposit, as a wager; to stake; to risk. I dare lay mine honor He will remain so. Shak.

, & i. To lay; to wager. [Obs.] Chaucer.