stake

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.

A 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.

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.

The piece of timber to which a person condemned to death was affixed to be burned.with-definite-article

• Thomas Cranmer was burnt at the stake.

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

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

That which is laid down as a wager; that which is staked or hazarded; a pledge.

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.

A territorial division comprising all the Mormons (typically several thousand) in a geographical area.Mormonism

• 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.

To fasten, support, defend, or delineate with stakes.transitive

• to stake vines or plants

To pierce or wound with a stake.transitive

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

To put at risk upon success in competition, or upon a future contingency.transitive

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

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

• John went broke, so to keep him playing, Jill had to stake him.
• His family staked him $10,000 to get his business started.

To 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 t

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