Definition of "stake"

stake

/steɪk/

noun
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.
  Quotations
  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, […]
2. (croquet) 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.
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 article) The piece of timber to which a person condemned to death was affixed to be burned.
  Quotations
  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.
  Quotations
  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. (Mormonism) A territorial division comprising all the Mormons (typically several thousand) in a geographical area.
  Quotations
  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
verb
third-person singular simple present stakes, present participle staking, simple past and past participle staked
1. (transitive) To fasten, support, defend, or delineate with stakes.
2. (transitive) To pierce or wound with a stake.
  Quotations
  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, Silas Marner
  “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
3. (transitive) To put at risk upon success in competition, or upon a future contingency.
  Quotations
  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, […], page 725
4. (transitive) To provide (another) with money in order to engage in an activity as betting or a business venture.
5. (cryptocurrencies) To deposit and risk a considerable amount of cryptocurrency in order to participate in the proof of stake process of verification.
  Quotations
  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, page 23