to raise the stakes
14
4.9
- phrasal verb
:
subir la apuesta
- To make the game more exciting, the players agreed to raise the stakes by doubling the bets.
I believe that mystery is built in a story through raising the stakes in a story.
- I believe that mystery is built in a story through raising the stakes in a story.
- Even that emphasis creates a problem because it does raise the stakes of the decision so high.
- Intelligent technology, for its for all its amazing capabilities, will also raise the stakes even higher.
- So she would have to find the next thing to, you know, raise the stakes even more.
- It shows you take the decision seriously, and in doing so, you have raised the stakes.
- What I love about what you just said is that you are raising the stakes on yourself for why you are here.
Examples
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More specifically, the problem today is that global technology has raised the stakes immeasurably and, at the same time, has only widened the gap between the power wielded and the predictability of its long-range effects.
Academic text (2013) -
In a tense negotiation, the team decided to raise the stakes by adding more demands to their offer.
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Shall we raise the stakes before the last turn?
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- I say we raise the stakes a little bit.
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Let's just raise the stakes a little bit.
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If you can have anything you want in this world, you have to raise the stakes or life gets boring.
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It's easy to raise the stakes by putting characters in mortal danger, right?
Blog text (15) -
Another problem is that a pure popular vote system would raise the stakes for voter fraud.
Blog text (16) -
In the past year, a number of events have raised the stakes in Afghanistan and highlighted the threat to the international effort there.
Academic text (2007) -
A switched-at-birth tale, "The Other Son" raises the stakes on what is already an emotionally charged situation.
Blog text (12)
Synonyms
220
5.5
To become larger, more serious, or more intense
9
7.0
To raise the level of risk or what people expect
How Risky
- Informal
1
8.2
9
7.0
14
4.9
91
3.3
42
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to increase the level of risk or reward' is directly derivable from combining 'raise' (to increase) with 'stakes' (the amount risked in a wager), so a learner who knows both words would infer the idiomatic use. Although the phrase is used metaphorically beyond gambling, the compositional logic is regular and cross-linguistically common, making it predictable for B1 learners.
Etymology
Raise the stakes may come from old betting games where a stake was the money or object you put down as a bet. If you 'raise' that stake you put in more, so the win or loss becomes bigger — that's why the phrase means to increase the 'risk' or 'reward' in a situation.