Betray

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Betray \Be*tray"\ (b[-e]*tr[=a]"), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
     {Betrayed} (-tr[=a]d"); p. pr. & vb. n. {Betraying}.] [OE.
     betraien, bitraien; pref. be- + OF. tra["i]r to betray, 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.
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              Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be
              betrayed into the hands of men.       --Matt. xvii.
                                                    22.
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     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.
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              But when I rise, I shall find my legs betraying me.
                                                    --Johnson.
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     3. To violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret, or
        that which one is bound in honor not to make known.
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              Willing to serve or betray any government for hire.
                                                    --Macaulay.
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     4. To disclose or discover, as something which prudence would
        conceal; to reveal unintentionally.
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              Be swift to hear, but cautious of your tongue, lest
              you betray your ignorance.            --T. Watts.
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     5. To mislead; to expose to inconvenience not foreseen to
        lead into error or sin.
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              Genius . . . often betrays itself into great errors.
                                                    --T. Watts.
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     6. To lead astray, as a maiden; to seduce (as under promise
        of marriage) and then abandon.
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     7. To show or to indicate; -- said of what is not obvious at
        first, or would otherwise be concealed.
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              All the names in the country betray great antiquity.
                                                    --Bryant.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  betray
       v 1: reveal unintentionally; "Her smile betrayed her true
            feelings" [syn: {bewray}]
       2: deliver to an enemy by treachery; "Judas sold Jesus"; "The
          spy betrayed his country" [syn: {sell}]
       3: 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" [syn: {fail}]
       4: be sexually unfaithful to one's partner in marriage; "She
          cheats on her husband"; "Might her husband be wandering?"
          [syn: {cheat on}, {cheat}, {cuckold}, {wander}]
       5: give away information about somebody; "He told on his
          classmate who had cheated on the exam" [syn: {denounce}, {tell
          on}, {give away}, {rat}, {grass}, {shit}, {shop}, {snitch},
           {stag}]
       6: cause someone to believe an untruth; "The insurance company
          deceived me when they told me they were covering my house"
          [syn: {deceive}, {lead astray}] [ant: {undeceive}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  132 Moby Thesaurus words for "betray":
     abuse, apostatize, babble, bamboozle, be indiscreet, be unguarded,
     bear witness against, beguile, betoken, betray a confidence, blab,
     blabber, blow the whistle, bluff, blurt, blurt out, bolt,
     break away, break faith, cajole, cheat on, circumvent, collaborate,
     conjure, cross, debauch, deceive, defect, defile, deflower, delude,
     demonstrate, desert, despoil, diddle, disclose, discover, divulge,
     double-cross, dupe, ensnare, entrap, evidence, evince, expose,
     fail, fink, fool, force, forestall, gammon, get around, give away,
     gull, hoax, hocus-pocus, hoodwink, hornswaggle, humbug, impart,
     indicate, inform, inform against, inform on, juggle, lay bare,
     lead astray, leak, let down, let drop, let fall, let slip,
     manifest, misguide, mislead, mock, narc, outmaneuver, outreach,
     outsmart, outwit, overreach, peach, pigeon, play one false,
     pull out, put something over, rape, rat, ravage, ravish, renegade,
     reveal, reveal a secret, ruin, run out on, secede, seduce, sell,
     sell out, shop, show, sing, snare, snitch, snitch on, snow, soil,
     spill, spill the beans, split, squeal, stool, string along, sully,
     take in, talk, tattle, tattle on, tell, tell on, tell secrets,
     tell tales, testify against, trap, trick, turn in, turn informer,
     two-time, uncover, unveil, violate