Games The stake that each poker player must put into the pool before receiving a hand or before receiving new cards. See synonyms at bet
A price to be paid, especially as one's share; cost: “Whether they could actually turn back Soviet policy depended on many factors that Moscow might yet choose to test by upping the ante” (Foreign Affairs)
verb: -ted or -teed, -te·ing, -tes.
transitive verb
Games To put (one's stake) into the pool in poker.
To pay: Let's ante up the bill.
intransitive verb
Games To put one's stake into the pool in poker: Don't look at your cards until everyone has anted.
To pay up.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition