Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BET, n. [Sax. bad, a pledge; badian, to give or take a pledge; G. wette, wetten.]

A wager; that which is laid, staked or pledged in a contest to be won, either by the victorious party himself, or by another person, in consequence of his victory. At a race, a man lays a bet on his own horse, or on the horse of another man.