I. an ‧ te 1 /ˈænti/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: ante- ]
up/raise the ante to increase your demands or try to get more things from a situation, even though this involves more risks:
They’ve upped the ante by making a $120 million bid to buy the company.
⇨ ↑ penny ante
II. ante 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle anted or anteed , present participle anteing )
ante up (something) phrasal verb
to pay an amount of money in order to be able to do or be involved in something:
Small firms that want to expand must ante up large legal fees.