A stake or bet that a player puts into a pot in poker before cards are dealt; more generally, the cost or price of something.
From Latin 'ante' meaning before. In poker, you put money in before the game begins, which is the literal 'before' action, hence the name.
The phrase 'raise the ante' comes straight from poker language but is now used for anything where stakes increase—like when someone 'raises the ante' on a dare, they're making it bigger or more risky.
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