BETRAY

denounce, tell on, betray, give away, rat, grass, shit, shop, snitch, stag

(verb) give away information about somebody; “He told on his classmate who had cheated on the exam”

deceive, betray, lead astray

(verb) cause someone to believe an untruth; “The insurance company deceived me when they told me they were covering my house”

betray, bewray

(verb) reveal unintentionally; “Her smile betrayed her true feelings”

fail, betray

(verb) disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake; “His sense of smell failed him this time”; “His strength finally failed him”; “His children failed him in the crisis”

betray, sell

(verb) deliver to an enemy by treachery; “Judas sold Jesus”; “The spy betrayed his country”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

betray (third-person singular simple present betrays, present participle betraying, simple past and past participle betrayed)

(transitive) To deliver into the hands of an enemy by treachery or fraud, in violation of trust; to give up treacherously or faithlessly.

(transitive) To prove faithless or treacherous to, as to a trust or one who trusts; to be false to; to deceive.

(transitive) To violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret, or that which one is bound in honor not to make known.

(transitive) To disclose or indicate, for example something which prudence would conceal; to reveal unintentionally.

(transitive) To mislead; to expose to inconvenience not foreseen; to lead into error or sin.

(transitive) To lead astray; to seduce (as under promise of marriage) and then abandon.

Synonyms

• (to prove faithless or treacherous): sell

Anagrams

• baryte

Source: Wiktionary


Be*tray", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Betrayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Betraying.] Etym: [OE. betraien, bitraien; pref. be- + OF. traĂŻr to bertray, F. trahir, fr. L. tradere. See Traitor.]

1. To deliver into the hands of an enemy by treachery or fraud, in violation of trust; to give up treacherously or faithlessly; as, an officer betrayed the city. Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men. Matt. xvii. 22.

2. To prove faithless or treacherous to, as to a trust or one who trusts; to be false to; to deceive; as, to betray a person or a cause. But when I rise, I shall find my legs betraying me. Johnson.

3. To violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret, or that which one is bound in honor not to make known. Willing to serve or betray any government for hire. Macaulay.

4. To disclose or discover, as something which prudence would conceal; to reveal unintentionally. Be swift to hear, but cautious of your tongue, lest you betray your ignorance. T. Watts.

5. To mislead; to expose to inconvenience not foreseen to lead into error or sin. Genius . . . often betrays itself into great errors. T. Watts.

6. To lead astray, as a maiden; to seduce (as under promise of marriage) and then abandon.

7. To show or to indicate; -- said of what is not obvious at first, or would otherwise be concealed. All the names in the country betray great antiquity. Bryant.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

27 April 2024

GREAT

(adjective) remarkable or out of the ordinary in degree or magnitude or effect; “a great crisis”; “had a great stake in the outcome”


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Coffee Trivia

The world’s most expensive coffee costs more than US$700 per kilogram. Asian palm civet – a cat-like creature in Indonesia, eats fruits, including select coffee cherries. It excretes partially digested seeds that produce a smooth, less acidic brew of coffee called kopi luwak.

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