ante

«ante» in Mova's school dictionary: a stake put into the pot before a card game starts — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (an ante, antes); verb (ante, antes, anted, anteing — ante up); prefix (ante- meaning before)

meaning for a pupil

1) An ante is a stake put into the pot before a card game starts. tree →

2) To up the ante means to increase what is at stake or make a situation more serious or demanding. tree →

3) Ante- at the start of a word means "before", as in antenatal (before birth) or anteroom. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday talk "up the ante" is common in news and sport. In words, ante- means before. Phrases: up the ante, raise the ante, ante up.

examples

• The team upped the ante by training twice a day. tree →
• The players put in their ante. tree →
• Antenatal classes help parents before a baby is born. tree →
• The bully upped the ante, so the teacher stepped in. tree →
• An anteroom is a small room before a bigger one. tree →
• Ante up — everyone puts in a coin! tree →
• "I found myself in an ante-room," said the shadow. tree →

note

Trap: ante- (before) is different from anti- (against): antenatal vs antibiotic. Said AN-tee.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «ante» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.