spread betnoun [ C ]
ukusFINANCE, STOCK MARKET an act of risking money on changes in the price of shares, without buying the shares themselves:
Unlike share holdings, spread bets do not benefit from dividends.
make/place/take a spread bet She was fined $750,000 for market abuse after placing a spread bet on a company in which she was the main shareholder.
FINANCE an act of risking money on what you think the result of an event such as a sports game will be:
You could take a spread bet on how many matches it will be before he gets sent off.