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What Does “Ante Up” Mean? How To Use It In A Sentence

What Does “Ante Up” Mean? How To Use It In A Sentence

The idiomatic expression “ante up” has several meanings and aspects where you can use it. People use the phrase can in poker. Or for when you pay for something or to fund a particular goal.

By definition, “ante up” means paying what is due or contributing one’s share of the payment by extension. It can also refer to paying a fee that is necessary to play a game, usually a card game. For example, the members were asked to ante up $5,000 for the renewal of the membership.

Origin Of The Term “Ante Up”

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In Latin, the word Ante means “before.”

The expression originates from poker and other betting games, where “to ante” means making a bet or contribution to the pot before they deal the cards.

By the mid-1800s, people used the phrase more loosely.

Meaning Of The Idiom “Ante Up”

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As a verb, “ante up” means to cancel or discharge a debt.

An ante is a forced call in poker that all players – in card games – have to risk. The ante is the amount that players must commit to the “pot” before the game starts. The prize of the game is called “the pot.” It will be the total of the ante in addition to all the bets made during the game.

To be allowed to play the game, a player must at minimum “ante up” or pay the ante. Upping the ante can quickly show how committed, serious, and solvent a player is. In summary, they meant to raise the stakes or increase the risk of the game.

Nowadays, people commonly use the phrase as a challenge to a person. The expression “step up” can replace “ante up.”

Other Definitions For “Ante Up”

  • In the poker game, it means to put more money or something with value on the table.

Example: I see your 20, and I raise you 30, ante up.

  • Someone may use it during a robbery, meaning give away anything with value.

Example: Ante up fool, I want the jewels and the cash.

  • To fund a particular goal or project.

Related Words And Examples Of “Ante Up”

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Synonyms

  • Pay
  • Contribute
  • Grant
  • Pay Up
  • Pitch In
  • Bestow
  • Hand Out
  • Shell Out
  • Disburse
  • Give
  • Spend
  • Expend
  • Recompense
  • Spend
  • Furnish
  • Spend
  • Layout
  • Subscribe
  • Remunerate
  • Dish Out
  • Lay Upon
  • Kick In
  • Pass Down
  • Hand Over
  • Deliver
  • Pass Down
  • Do Business
  • Chip In
  • Distribute
  • Ante
  • Advance
  • Pony Up
  • Fork Over
  • Dole Out

Antonyms

  • Default
  • Borrow Money
  • Appropriate For
  • Ask For Donation
  • Ask For Contribution
  • Pass The Hat
  • Receive A Donation
  • Penalize
  • Default On
  • Renege
  • Embezzle
  • Disproportion

Hypernyms

  • Possession (to pay off, to liquidate)
  • Pay

Hyponyms

  • Pay off
  • Liquidate

Reverse Dictionary

  • Ante

Example Sentences For “Ante Up”

  • The Writing section contains the ante-up grade and writing wrong modes.
  • The client has to be willing to ante up to keep that agency.
  • In his first gubernatorial bid, he offered, he anted up $ 1 million.
  • The state will ante up $ 210 million over that time.
  • Before last season, the alumni anted up for 15 football scholarships.
  • When is he going to ante up and kick in?
  • Now that Detroit appears about to lose Grant Hill, the Pistons might ante up.
  • DiFrancesco also anted up a basket of Italian specialty foods.
  • In an era of budget surpluses, advocates argue, the federal government could ante up money to purchase open space and farmland.
  • Even a bluffing superpower can be forced to ante up or perhaps fold as casualties mount and treasury accounts go bust.
  • Maybe these crazy ideas are his way of moving the federal government to ante up more money to the provinces for health care.
  • It was akin to a backer’s audition for a Broadway musical, where if the would-be theatrical angels leave humming the title tune, they will undoubtedly ante up later.
  • However, when all the facts came out, those contributions revealed little more than window dressing, an early ante up for honest bribery and pay-offs.
  • Perhaps these crazy ideas are his way of forcing the federal government to ante up more money to the provinces for health care.
  • I will not applaud the clarity gained when the US refuses to ante up more than a pittance for the damage wrought by tsunamis in Southeast Asia.

Usages Of The Idiom “Ante Up” In Literature

It would be worth our while to ante up something handsome if you think.

“Bert Wilson on the Gridiron” by J. W. Duffield

In Books

Ante Up (High Stakes Book 1) by Christina C. Jones

Extract: Her poker face has kept her alive all this time, and he keeps his cards close to his chest. Neither is interested in gambling their hearts, but when they can’t stay away from each other, there’s only one choice, ante up.

Ante Up! (Aggie’s Inheritance Book 4) by Chautona Havig

Extract: Marriage has been good to Aggie. After a few years and a baby under her belt, she’s ready to take on anything–including adding child number ten to the home! Blessings aren’t always easy, and Aggie is about to discover that in a whole new way! So, Aunt Aggie has to “knuckle down” and “ante up” to keep losing ALL her marbles.

Ante Up: The High-Stakes Games of Life by Dampe Ghoti

Extract: The reality of this world is one end-time prophecy after another. Following the absolute end of the ultimate apocalypse are positive beginnings. This definite destruction ensures one last chance to end all the ignorance. It is so we may move into Tomorrow from Yesterday, Today.

In Poetry

So, lads put on your stoppers, and let us to the hut,

Where we’ll gather around and have a friendly game,

While some are playing music and some play ante up,

And some are gazing outwards at the rain.

“Another Fall of Rain” by Anonymous Oceania

In News

Stephen Colbert, the comedian who took a dig at Windsor, Ontario, in his new book, upped the ante on his late-night show Wednesday night when he called out the CBC and other Canadian media for being offended at a specific comment.

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Impact Foods, an official partner of the World Food Program, has upped the ante this December by feeding two children for every bag sold.

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. A builder accused of years of ripping people off is upping the ante, allegedly using the name of a legitimate building business to get jobs.

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The company upped the ante in February 2012, sponsoring a “Pwnium” contest that sought “fully functional exploits ” — and awarded considerable sums to those who found them.

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So enter the ELF, a three-wheeled, electrically assisted velomobile that ups the ante with solar panels.

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State party leaders ante up funds for legislative races.

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Dell, Nimble, GreenBytes, and NetApp Up the Ante to Support VDI.

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Smash continues to up the ante for its second season.

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Mammoth Mountain Ski Area has done it again: opened up a new restaurant and upped the ante for a pleasant dining experience.

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Best Buy Offers Founder More Time to Ante Up.

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Magician Aaron Radatz will up the ante of this year’s “Fright Fest” at Darien Lake.

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Matt Meola, Albee Layer, and more return to the Isle and up the ante in Episode 2 more.

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In Science

We’ll consider the betting up to this point as an ante-up and that each player can make a single bet of size b.

Quantized Poker

In Movies

Ante Up (Italian: Il piatto piange) is a 1974 Italian comedy film directed by Paolo Nuzzi. The plot revolves around the Mussolini era, where some young people meet frequently. While playing cards, they exchange stories about recent events. And they have different kinds of adventures between their meetings.

In Songs

Ante up (Robbin-Hoodz Theory). It is a song by the American hip hop duo MOP.

When asked about the meaning of the song in an interview, they stated:

“It’s a saying that we got from my mother, every time someone comes through the door, she’s like, ‘Where it’s at? Ante up.’ Just the fact that we took it from the street corner—there was two meaning to the record. It was ante up; we’ve been in this game too long. You guys see how we demolish the stage, how we make short work of the main major artists when we get on their records, and you still won’t give us the props and the recognition that we deserve”.

In Magazine

A poker-related magazine only talks about poker, and it is called “ante up.” It is a magazine dedicated to regular poker players and their poker rooms. They have combined their love for poker with their knowledge of the media to entertain, inform and inspire poker players from all around the world through various products.

Conclusion

Regardless of the usage, you might give to this idiomatic expression; it is always good to know the different aspects.

Whether you are using “ante up” as a poker reference or express command of “stepping up,” this idiom will come in handy.