stake

plural stakes

1. A piece of wood or other material, usually long and slender, pointed at one end so as to be easily driven into the ground as a marker or a support or stay.

   We have surveyor's stakes at all four corners of this field, to mark exactly its borders.

   1 more example

   A sharpened stake strong Dryas found.

   1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

2. croquetA piece of wood driven in the ground, placed in the middle of the court, that is used as the finishing point after scoring 12 hoops in croquet.

   Synonyms: peg

3. A stick or similar object (e.g., steel channel or angle stock) inserted upright in a lop, eye, or mortise, at the side or end of a cart, flat car, flatbed trailer, or the like, to prevent goods from falling off; often connected in a grid forming a stakebody.
4. with definite articleThe piece of timber to which a person condemned to death was affixed to be burned.

   Thomas Cranmer was burnt at the stake.

   1 more example

   However, the word "witch" came to be applied almost exclusively to women who [...] were usually old and ugly, and for this reason many unfortunate old ladies, whose only crimes were loneliness and a lack of beauty, went to the stake.

   1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 106

5. A share or interest in a business or a given situation.

   The owners let the managers eventually earn a stake in the business.

   1 more example

   The French Government is Eurostar's majority shareholder, with the country's state-owned railway SNCF holding a 55% stake, while Belgian state operator SNCB has a 5% stake.

   2021 February 10, Richard Clinnick, “Eurostar boost as French promise aid”, in RAIL, number 924, page 10

6. That which is laid down as a wager; that which is staked or hazarded; a pledge.
7. A small anvil usually furnished with a tang to enter a hole in a bench top, as used by tinsmiths, blacksmiths, etc., for light work, punching hole in or cutting a work piece, or for specific forming techniques etc.
8. MormonismA territorial division comprising all the Mormons (typically several thousand) in a geographical area.

   Every city, or stake, including a chief town and surrounding towns, has its president, with two counselors; and this president has a high council of chosen men.

   1910, Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge

present singular third person stakes · participle present staking · participle past staked · past staked

1. transitiveTo fasten, support, defend, or delineate with stakes.

   to stake vines or plants

2. transitiveTo pierce or wound with a stake.

   “You ladies happen to notice what happened to this vampire? This just happened. Did you see who staked him?”

   2014, A. J. Gallant, Dracula: Hearts of Stone

   1 more example

   You see, I'd made a bargain with him to buy the horse for a hundred and twenty—a swinging price, but I always liked the horse. And what does he do but go and stake him—fly at a hedge with stakes in it, atop of a bank with a ditch before it.

   1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter VIII, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC

3. transitiveTo put at risk upon success in competition, or upon a future contingency.

   I'll ſtake my Lamb that near the Fountain plays, / And from the Brink his dancing Shade ſurveys.

   1709 May, Alexander Pope, “Pastorals. Spring. The First Pastoral, or Damon. […]”, in Poetical Miscellanies: The Sixth Part. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 725

   Synonyms: bet, hazard, wager

4. transitiveTo provide (another) with money in order to engage in an activity as betting or a business venture.

   His family staked him $10,000 to get his business started.

   1 more example

   John went broke, so to keep him playing, Jill had to stake him.

5. businessTo deposit and risk a considerable amount of cryptocurrency in order to participate in the proof of stake process of verification.

   Any peer can participate in the mining process by staking coins in order to validate a new transaction. To become a miner, there are two options; you can stake your coins to be used by a trustworthy node […], or you can submit a full node to be selected as a miner.

   2019, Elad Elrom, “Blockchain Basics”, in The Blockchain Developer […] , Apress, →ISBN, page 23

6. obsoleteTo stretch leather skin over a piece of iron held knee-height, in preparation to use the skin in the creation of gloves.

plural Stakes

1. A surname.