to ante up
8
7.8
- phrasal verb
- /ˈænti ʌp/
- Informal
:
pagar
- To join the group trip, everyone agreed to ante up their share of the expenses.
- ante up millions
- ante up the money
- ante up cash
Examples
-
I would love for our allies to ante up more, but let's face it.
Blog text (4) -
Come on, buster, now it's your turn to ante up.
-
Are we going to ante up and do something about it?
-
All right, boys, ante up.
-
We'll all ante up 10.
-
All the more reason to ante up.
Fiction book (2000) -
Soon it will be your turn to be considered rich, and you better be ready to ante up.
Blog text (5) -
Not everyone could ante up the price of a ticket, and a chicken's as good as money if you ask me.
Fiction book (2001) -
Everybody ante up.
-
Everybody ante up twenty bucks for a gift," Marty said, taking his wallet out of his back pocket and throwing a twenty-dollar bill on the table.
Fiction book (1999)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To give money for something you buy or owe
35
3.6
Give someone the money you owe them, often after they ask you
23
6.5
To pay money unwillingly after being pressured
21
8.2
Pay money, often reluctantly, when others expect it
2
8.9
To pay money in advance as a required deposit or guarantee
1
8.1
To pay money unwillingly
Antonyms
How Much
- Informal
35
3.6
140
3.4
- Informal
8
7.8
883
2.7
31
3.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'ante' denotes putting in a stake/contribution and 'up' adds a sense of completing or providing the required amount, so the overall sense 'pay what is due / contribute money' is partly inferable from the parts. However, 'ante' is a relatively specialized, low-frequency term (poker-origin) and the particle 'up' contributes an idiomatic completion sense, so the meaning is not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Ante up comes from old card games where each player had to put a small bet, the ante, into the pot before a round. To ante up meant to put the ante 'up' into the shared money, so today it means 'to pay your share' or 'to settle what you owe'.