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up the ante. verb phrase. To raise the price, offer, sum in question, etc; increase; make a higher demand: I think I may up the ante to a cool fifty/ The trader decides to up the ante. [1970s+; fr the ante in poker, which gives one the right to take part]
also ante-bellum, from Latin phrase ante bellum, literally before the war; see ante- + bellicose. In U.S., usually in reference to the American Civil War (1861-65); first attested in a June 14, 1862, entry in Mary Chesnut's diary.