bet the farm

verb

To be absolutely certain, to have no doubts.

“I'd be surprised if those two are still dating come Christmas, but I'm not betting the farm on a breakup just yet.”

Similar
bet one's bottom dollarbet one's bootsbet the ranchbet the house
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Meanings

verbbet the farm (third-person singular simple present bets the farm, present participle betting the farm, simple past and past participle bet the farm)

present singular third person bets the farm · participle present betting the farm

  1. idiomaticTo be absolutely certain, to have no doubts.

    I'd be surprised if those two are still dating come Christmas, but I'm not betting the farm on a breakup just yet.

    1 more example

    Since Rupert Murdoch famously bet the farm on Premier League football to rescue Sky TV in 1991, it has been the catnip that has underpinned subscriber loyalty and, even in a far more complicated media landscape, is seen as so vital as to be worth almost any price.

    2016 October 24, Owen Gibson, “Is the unthinkable happening – are people finally switching the football off?”, in The Guardian, London

    Synonyms: bet one's bottom dollar, bet one's boots, bet the ranch, bet the house

  2. idiomaticTo make a substantial wager or risk.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo be absolutely certain, to have no doubts.

Similar
bet one's bottom dollarbet one's bootsbet the ranchbet the house
Also see
a pound to a pennybet a dollar to a doughnutbet one's bootsbet one's bottom dollarbet the housebet the ranch

Origin

Possibly nothing more than a case of real estate as wager stakes, but also plausibly because farmers cannot avoid gambling and the stakes are financial ruin: they must make many decisions (such as which crops to plant each year, and how to manage livestock), and outside factors such as weather or changing commodity markets can dash their hopes. Thus, when making a decision they must ask themselves whether they are confident enough to bet the farm as the wager stakes.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bet the farm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bet%20the%20farm

MLA

“bet the farm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bet%20the%20farm. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bet the farm,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bet%20the%20farm.

Source: bet the farm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.