betraybe‧tray /bɪˈtreɪ/ ●●○ verb [transitive] 
He felt that she had betrayed him.betray somebody to somebody What kind of man would betray his own sister to the police? She had betrayed her parents' trust. I would never betray a confidence (=tell a secret that someone has trusted me with).2country to be disloyal to your country, company etc, for example by giving secret information to its enemies: people who betray their country for money3emotions to show feelings that you are trying to hide SYN give away: His voice betrayed his nervousness. His face betrayed nothing (=showed no emotion).4truth to show that something is true or exists, especially when it is not easily noticed SYN give away: The slightest sound might betray his presence. The crumpled sheets betrayed the fact that someone had been sleeping there.5betray your beliefs/principles/ideals etc to stop supporting your old beliefs and principles, especially in order to get power or avoid trouble—betrayer noun [countable]
WORD ORIGINbetray
Origin:
1200-1300 tray ‘to betray’ (13-16 centuries), from Old French traïr, from Latin tradere; ➔ TRAITORVERB TABLE
betray
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | betray |
| he, she, it | betrays | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | betrayed |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have betrayed |
| he, she, it | has betrayed | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had betrayed |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will betray |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have betrayed |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am betraying |
| he, she, it | is betraying | |
| you, we, they | are betraying | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was betraying |
| you, we, they | were betraying | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been betraying |
| he, she, it | has been betraying | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been betraying |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be betraying |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been betraying |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Barker's comments on Germany betrayed a woeful ignorance of history and recent politics.
- Conservatives felt betrayed when Bush raised taxes.
- Greene was denounced for betraying his Catholic beliefs and siding with the Communists.
- He betrayed his friends in order to save his own life.
- His words were calm, but his voice betrayed his very real concern and anxiety.
- I still have bitter feelings for Robert. What can I say? He completely betrayed my trust.
- If he feels any bitterness, his voice doesn't betray it.
- My husband lied to me and betrayed me.
- Olga's best friend betrayed her to the secret police.
- The documents betray a deep anti-Semitism in the country.
- The former federal agent betrayed his country and gave away vital military secrets.
- The new government has betrayed the ideals of the revolution.
- There are people who are prepared to betray their country for money.
- When I heard what she had said about me I felt angry and betrayed.
- He had felt betrayed by the visit, after hoping to be lifted out of his crushing depression by it.
- He is the golden youth whose promise is betrayed by his base appetites.
- Not by the slightest word or look did she betray to Miss Miggs that she knew she couldn't read.
- They could see that her body was already betraying her.
- Women can not betray me, for I have never made the mistake of trusting them.
Longman Language Activatorto betray a friend or someone who trusts you
to be disloyal to your friends or to someone who trusts you, often causing serious harm to them as a result: · He betrayed his friends in order to save his own life. betray somebody to the police/government etc (=give the police etc information about someone): · Olga's best friend betrayed her to the secret police.betray somebody's trust/confidence/friendship etc (=betray someone who trusts you): · I still have bitter feelings for Robert. What can I say? He completely betrayed my trust.feel betrayed (=feel that someone you trust has betrayed you): · When I heard what she had said about me I felt angry and betrayed.
to betray someone who trusts you, especially someone that you work with, by saying or doing something that will cause them a lot of harm and get you an advantage: · He seems friendly, but he wouldn't hesitate to stab you in the back if he thought it would help him get your job.· Thatcher was stabbed in the back by her former friends and colleagues in the Conservative Party.
to betray a group of people who trusted you to help them, in order to gain money or power for yourself: · The workers were promised that they would not lose their jobs as a result of the merger. Later they found out that they had been sold down the river.
great disloyalty to someone who trusts you, for example by secretly tricking them, or helping their enemies: · When the king learned of his brother's treachery, he quickly ordered his execution.· After a furious argument during which he accused the prime minister of treachery, he announced that he would resign his Cabinet position.
to betray your country to be disloyal to your country, for example by helping its enemies or giving them secret information: · The former federal agent betrayed his country and gave away vital military secrets.
to betray your country by helping its enemies when they have defeated your country and taken control of it: · Those suspected of collaborating during the occupation were tried and shotcollaborate with: · He was imprisoned in 1945 for collaborating with the enemy.
the crime of betraying your country by helping its enemies: · Fleming was flown to Washington and tried for treason.commit treason: · All five of the men will be charged with committing treason against the state.
to betray your beliefs or principles to behave in a way that is completely against your beliefs or principles, so that people think you have given them up completely: · The new government has betrayed the ideals of the revolution.· Greene was denounced for betraying his Catholic beliefs and siding with the Communists.
to behave in a way that is completely against what you have said are your beliefs or principles, especially in order to get advantages for yourself in politics: · When the Socialists changed their policy on nuclear weapons they were accused of selling out.· Many of the radicals of the 1960s sold out - they became accountants and salesmen.
someone who betrays their country someone who helps the enemies of their country, for example by giving them secret information: · At the end of the war Mata Hari was hanged as a traitor.traitor to: · When he left Nicaragua for the US, he was denounced as a traitor to the revolution.turn traitor (=become a traitor): · Zaragoza turned traitor when he thought the Republicans would lose the war.
someone who helps their country's enemies, especially when the enemy has taken control of that country: · Women who were suspected of collaborating had their heads shaved in public.collaborator with: · His father had been accused of collaborating with the CIA.
to show your feelings, attitudes etc when you do not intend to if you can't hide a feeling, you cannot stop yourself from showing it because the feeling is so strong: · Kris couldn't hide her delight at my situation.· 'It'll be okay,' said Kang, unable to hide his disappointment. can't hide from: · He couldn't hide his envy from her.
to show a feeling, quality, or attitude, especially without realizing that you are showing it: · The look on my face must have revealed my embarrassment.· Carter's face was a blank, revealing no emotion.· A slight trembling of his hands revealed his growing excitement.
to show a feeling, attitude, quality etc when you do not want or intend to: · His words were calm, but his voice betrayed his very real concern and anxiety.· Barker's comments on Germany betrayed a woeful ignorance of history and recent politics.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY She had betrayed her parents' trust. I would never betray a confidence (=tell a secret that someone has trusted me with). His face betrayed nothing (=showed no emotion). The slightest sound might betray his presence. The crumpled sheets betrayed the fact that someone had been sleeping there.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES You betrayed your father’s trust (=did something bad even though he trusted you).COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
1friends to be disloyal to someone who trusts you, so that they are harmed or upset: She had betrayed her parents' trust. I would never betray a confidence (=tell a secret that someone has trusted me with). His face betrayed nothing (=showed no emotion). The slightest sound might betray his presence. The crumpled sheets betrayed the fact that someone had been sleeping there. (=be disloyal, especially by giving secrets to other countries)· He betrayed his country for the sake of communism.
(=to do something that is not acceptable according to your ideals)· He argues that Lenin betrayed his revolutionary ideals.
(=do something that is against your principles)· I knew I could lie to help him, but it would be betraying my principles.
You betrayed your father’s trust (=did something bad even though he trusted you).· In truth, he was never betrayed.
NOUN· Would her body betray her and fight to preserve its fleeing spirit, causing lingering agony instead of swift and final oblivion?· They could see that her body was already betraying her.· But his body betrayed his words as he dressed for the trip home.· Her body began to betray her.· But as John Swensson aged, his body began to betray him.· But my body always betrayed me.
· I can't tell you what Melanie was asking me because I don't betray other people's confidences.
· But why should some one murder him decades later because he betrayed his country and worked for the Soviet Union?· You have betrayed your country and your religion.· I thought we would all rather betray our country than our friends.
· But by not so much as a flicker of an eyebrow did he betray his emotions.· Clare suddenly noticed that Elinor's hands were gripping the bedclothes, betraying the emotion hidden by her quiet words.· Her handsome features betrayed no emotion as Julia stood aside to give her passage.· The sergeant glanced across at Blanche but her face betrayed no emotion at all.
· He continued to watch as Gentle got up, his face betraying a mournful empathy with Gentle's bruising.· Their faces betrayed no sign of human warmth.· His eyes were bright and his face betrayed a frustrated energy.· His face of course betrayed his age.· Karelius hoped his face did not betray him.· Grey, thinning hair and a tired face betray years of active service.· Her clear face betrayed no grief or anxiety at all.· His face betrayed him to McAllister.
· Never must she put herself in a position where she might be tempted to betray the fact that she loved him.· The sometimes inattentive audience only betrayed the fact that they were as much participants in the total popular-cultural spectacle as the performers.· Instead she stood with her eyes closed, lest they betrayed the fact that she found him to be disturbing to her.
· He ridicules but secretly envies Saburov, who accepts professional obscurity and poverty rather than compromising his talent by betraying his artistic ideals.
· They practiced deception and betrayed their own people, and so created nothing that could be built upon.· Because it's being betrayed by the people who are meant to govern it.· The people who betrayed her people.· The result is that we have been steadily betraying mentally-ill people for at least a century.
· A thin squeaking betrayed the presence of two baby gold crests, precariously balanced on the branch of a larch.· Or did they simply betray the presence of a lone woman in a dark deserted place?· He veered to his right, not wanting to betray his presence with dust from the dry mud of the lane.· He held his breath, not wanting to make the slightest sound that might betray his presence.· The floor was covered with large red and white vinyl tiles, rubbed in ridges that betrayed the presence of flagstones underneath.
· Who had persuaded the other to defect, to betray his fundamental principles in the name of personal loyalty?
· The girl was betraying the trust that her parents had instilled into her all her young life.· Adrian is shocked that Yasmin betrayed his trust.· No wonder then that on the one occasion when television betrays his trust, his world fell apart.· How could television betray Homer's trust?· Estrada has been charged with bribery, corruption, violating the constitution and betraying the public trust.· He was absolved, neither waking nor sleeping had he betrayed his trust.· As imperial portraits attracted faith, so images of emperors who had betrayed their subjects' trust were treated with contempt.· I couldn't stay with the Sisters because of Andrew; it would be betraying their trust.
· His voice did not betray the slightly perturbed current of his thoughts.
· But a man still, who could betray one woman with another.
VERB· In his heart he felt he was betraying something very new and delicate, but he could not stop himself.· The civil rights workers felt betrayed.· He had felt betrayed by the visit, after hoping to be lifted out of his crushing depression by it.· His inconstancy infuriated liberals, who felt betrayed, and Republicans, whose positions he seemed to be stealing.· I felt she had betrayed me and that I had no home.· I really felt betrayed by my parents at that point.· Some one he could want without feeling he was betraying all he believed in.· The West was shocked and felt betrayed.
He felt that she had betrayed him.betray somebody to somebody What kind of man would betray his own sister to the police? She had betrayed her parents' trust. I would never betray a confidence (=tell a secret that someone has trusted me with).2country to be disloyal to your country, company etc, for example by giving secret information to its enemies: people who betray their country for money3emotions to show feelings that you are trying to hide SYN give away: His voice betrayed his nervousness. His face betrayed nothing (=showed no emotion).4truth to show that something is true or exists, especially when it is not easily noticed SYN give away: The slightest sound might betray his presence. The crumpled sheets betrayed the fact that someone had been sleeping there.5betray your beliefs/principles/ideals etc to stop supporting your old beliefs and principles, especially in order to get power or avoid trouble—betrayer noun [countable]