sweetening the pot
Increasing the stakes
Sweetening the pot means adding more to make an offer or deal more attractive.
The phrase comes from poker, where players add chips to the pot to raise stakes and entice others to stay in the hand.
Outside gambling, it describes any attempt to make a proposal more appealing: They sweetened the pot with a signing bonus.
- antePre-deal poker payment
- bonusReward beyond expectation
- cash bonusMonetary reward beyond wages
- signing bonusPayment upon accepting employment
- raiseLift or increase
add · concession · reward · enticement · inducement · offer · upping the ante · leverage · dangling · throwing in · stake · investment · deal · closing the deal · carrot · compromise · temptation · perk
- negotiationbargaining, bargain, negotiate, mediation, compromise
- influence peddlinginfluence peddling, backscratching, quid pro quo, kickbacks, payoffs
sweetening the potlowballing
Offering far less than worth
scaling back · walking away · retracting · reneging · backing out
sweetening the potplaying hardball
Using ruthless tactics
holding firm · digging in · standing pat · stonewalling · hardball
sweet, sweeten, sweetener, sweetened, sweetly, sweetness, sweeter, sweetest, potting