stake
/steɪk/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.15 in modern English
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
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.
noun
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.
noun
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.
noun
A territorial division comprising all the Mormons (typically several thousand) in a geographical area.
Example Sentences
- "We have surveyor's stakes at all four corners of this field, to mark exactly its borders."
- "A sharpened stake strong Dryas found."
- "Thomas Cranmer was burnt at the stake."
- "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."
- "The owners let the managers eventually earn a stake in the business."
- "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."