Stake-out

noun
1.
a stick or post pointed at one end for driving into the ground as a boundary mark, part of a fence, support for a plant, etc.
2.
a post to which a person is bound for execution, usually by burning.
3.
the stake, the punishment of death by burning:
Joan of Arc was sentenced to the stake.
4.
one of a number of vertical posts fitting into sockets or staples on the edge of the platform of a truck or other vehicle, as to retain the load.
5.
Mormon Church. a division of ecclesiastical territory, consisting of a number of wards presided over by a president and two counselors.
6.
sett (def 2).
verb (used with object), staked, staking.
7.
to mark with or as if with stakes (often followed by off or out):
We staked out the boundaries of the garden.
8.
to possess, claim, or reserve a share of (land, profit, glory, etc.) as if by marking or bounding with stakes (usually followed by out or off):
I’m staking out ten percent of the profit for myself.
9.
to separate or close off by a barrier of stakes.
10.
to support with a stake or stakes, as a plant:
to stake tomato vines.
11.
to tether or secure to a stake, as an animal:
They staked the goat in the back yard.
12.
to fasten with a stake or stakes.
Verb phrases
13.
stake out,

to keep (a suspect) under police surveillance.
to appoint (a police officer) to maintain constant watch over a suspect or place.

Idioms
14.
pull up stakes, Informal. to leave one’s job, place of residence, etc.; move:
They pulled up stakes and went to California.
noun
1.
a stick or metal bar driven into the ground as a marker, part of a fence, support for a plant, etc
2.
one of a number of vertical posts that fit into sockets around a flat truck or railway wagon to hold the load in place
3.
a method or the practice of executing a person by binding him to a stake in the centre of a pile of wood that is then set on fire
4.
(Mormon Church) an administrative district consisting of a group of wards under the jurisdiction of a president
5.
pull up stakes, to leave one’s home or temporary resting place and move on
verb (transitive)
6.
to tie, fasten, or tether with or to a stake
7.
often foll by out or off. to fence or surround with stakes
8.
(often foll by out) to lay (a claim) to land, rights, etc
9.
to support with a stake
noun
1.
the money or valuables that a player must hazard in order to buy into a gambling game or make a bet
2.
an interest, often financial, held in something: a stake in the company’s future
3.
(often pl) the money that a player has available for gambling
4.
(often pl) a prize in a race, etc, esp one made up of contributions from contestants or owners
5.
(pl) (horse racing) a race in which all owners of competing horses contribute to the prize money
6.
(US & Canadian, informal) short for grubstake (sense 1)
7.
at stake, at risk: two lives are at stake
8.
raise the stakes

to increase the amount of money or valuables hazarded in a gambling game
to increase the costs, risks, or considerations involved in taking an action or reaching a conclusion: the Libyan allegations raised the stakes in the propaganda war between Libya and the United States

verb (transitive)
9.
to hazard (money, etc) on a result
10.
to invest in or support by supplying with money, etc: to stake a business enterprise
stairs
stag line