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stake

(stāk)

1. A piece of wood or metal pointed at one end for driving into the ground as a marker, fence pole, or tent peg.

a. A vertical post to which an offender is bound for execution by burning.

b. Execution by burning. Used with the: condemned to the stake.

3. A vertical post secured in a socket at the edge of a platform, as on a truck bed, to help retain the load.

4. Mormon Church A territorial division consisting of a group of wards under the jurisdiction of a president.

5. Sports & Games

a. often stakes Money or property risked in a wager or gambling game.

b. The prize awarded the winner of a contest or race.

c. A race offering a prize to the winner, especially a horserace in which the prize consists of money contributed equally by the horse owners.

a. A share or an interest in an enterprise, especially a financial share.

b. Personal interest or involvement: a stake in her children's future.

7. Something, such as a crucial change or grave consequence, that may result from a situation: The stakes are high in the mayoral election.

8. A grubstake.

tr.v. staked, stak·ing, stakes

a. To mark the location or limits of with stakes. Often used with out: staked out a garden patch.

b. To claim, establish, or register as one's own. Often used with out: staked out a mining claim at the office; staked out a place for herself in the library.

a. To fasten, secure, or support with a stake or stakes: staked down the tent; staked the shrubs.

b. To tether or tie to a stake.

c. To impale with a stake.

3. To gamble or risk; hazard: staked his week's pay on the horse race; staked the campaign on a promise of a tax cut.

4. To provide with money; finance: staked him to the money for the tickets.

5. Sports To provide a lead for: Her homer staked her team to a two-run lead.

Phrasal Verb:

stake out

1. To keep (a building, for example) under surveillance.

2. To assign (a police officer, for example) to an area to conduct surveillance: The police were staked out across the street from the apartment.

Idiom:

at stake

At risk; in question.

[Middle English, from Old English staca.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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