I. ˈstāk noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English staca; akin to Middle Low German stake pointed stick, stake, Old Norse lȳsi staki candlestick, Latin tignum beam, Lithuanian stagaras long dry stalk
1. : a pointed piece of wood or other material driven or designed to be driven into the ground usually for a specific purpose (as a mark of a boundary, site, or claim, support for a plant, part of a framework, or a tethering rod)
2. : a post or other support to which a person is bound for execution usually by burning
3. : execution by burning at a stake
4.
a. : something that is staked for gain or loss ; especially : a sum of money or its equivalent risked
b. : the prize set in any contest — often used in plural
5. : a small anvil usually having a tang to enter a hole in a bench top and used by smiths for light work
6. : something that may be gained or lost (as by the turn of events) : something at stake : a permanent interest (as in an enterprise or community)
have a stake in the country
7. : a sporting event in which a stake or prize is put up ; specifically : stake race
8. : a territorial unit of Latter-day Saint Church jurisdiction comprising a group of wards and governed by a stake presidency
9. : a wooden post formerly used in leather manufacturing to support a blunt semicircular steel blade over which skins are drawn to and fro to be stretched and softened
10. : a stick inserted upright in a loop, eye, or mortise at the side or end of a vehicle (as a cart, flatcar, or truck) to retain the load
11. : any of the longest foundation rods of a basket usually upset from the bottom — see basket illustration
12. : a tool used by a slater
13. : the part of a riveter frame that carries the stationary die
14. : a post of stone or wood or both often elaborately ornamented and set up as a rover in archery
15. : grubstake
•
- at stake
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English staken, from stake, n.
transitive verb
1. : to mark the limits of by stakes — usually used with out or off
2. : to tether (an animal) to a stake
3. : to impale on or transfix with a stake (as formerly in punishment)
4. : to risk (as one's money or life) upon the issue of competition or upon a future contingency : wager , venture , bet
5. : to fasten up or support (as vines or plants) with stakes
6. : to work (skins) on a stake or in a staking machine in leather manufacturing : stretch and flex (leather) to soften it after tanning
7.
a. : to back financially : support (as a person or enterprise) in order to further chances of success
b. : to advance (as money or supplies) to assist in or in expectation of future success
8. : grubstake
intransitive verb
1. : to put up a bet : wager
whether you stake in pounds or in shillings — advt
2. : to impale a wheel on the arbor of a clock or watch with the use of hollow punches and with the arbor resting in a die
•
- stake a claim