Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bet a dollar to a doughnut

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.14 in modern English

Syllables: bet a -dol-lar -to a -dough-nut
IPA

29

Scrabble Score

21

Letters

6

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To declare with confidence.

Humorous

Example Sentences

"I bet a dollar to a doughnut that fellow Lopez sold us out."
"There's places where a dago-dazzler doesn't cut much ice, but it was dollars to doughnuts that the Sultan'd have a kindly feeling for it when I had Mungo explain that it was from the President of the U. S. A., telling him to treat his Uncle Phineas good and white, and he'd do the same by him some day."
"‘Even if Kong follows, he has to travel overland, and it’s dollars to doughnuts we beat him.’"
"[S]aying that environmental concerns are a major factor . . . Mr. Mulroney said "you can bet a dollar to a doughnut" that acid rain would feature in the campaign."
"I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut Usain Bolt is not the fastest human on the planet."

Etymology

Possibly adapted from "bet dollars to buttons" and "bet dollars to dumplings" that appeared in the 1880s, meaning "to feel almost certain" because the dollars are bet against something nearly worthless and perhaps shaped like a zero.

Usage

Humorous

Inflected Forms

bets a dollar to a doughnut (present, singular) betting a dollar to a doughnut (participle, present) bet a dollar to a donut (alternative) wager a dollar to a doughnut (alternative) bet dollars to doughnuts (alternative) dollars to donuts (alternative, phrase)

Phrases

wanna bet make it interesting

Frequently Paired Words

wanna bet make it interesting

Synonyms

a pound to a penny bet a dollar to a dime bet one's boots bet one's bottom dollar bet the farm take to the bank Lombard Street to a China orange

Questions

What does bet a dollar to a doughnut mean?: To declare with confidence.
Where does bet a dollar to a doughnut come from?: Possibly adapted from "bet dollars to buttons" and "bet dollars to dumplings" that appeared in the 1880s, meaning "to feel almost certain" because the dollars are bet against something nearly worthless and perhaps shaped like a zero.

How to pronounce bet a dollar to a doughnut

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