stakeout

1 of 2

noun

stake·​out ˈstāk-ˌau̇t 

: a surveillance maintained by the police of an area or a person suspected of criminal activity

stake out

2 of 2

verb

staked out; staking out; stakes out

transitive verb

1

: to assign (someone, such as a police officer) to an area usually to conduct a surveillance

2

: to maintain a stakeout of

3

: to claim as one's own

Examples of stakeout in a Sentence

Noun

The drug deal was witnessed during a stakeout of the building.

The police were on a stakeout.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In 2023, a forty-eight-year-old El Paso resident was taking medicine to her grandmother when she was arrested by state troopers on a stakeout, who had mistaken her for a smuggler. —Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025

The detectives assigned to the stakeouts arrested three persons Friday night on charges of robbery and kidnapping. —The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, arkansasonline.com, 2 Mar. 2025

Verb

Vance weighed in during a week when the feud between Trump and Musk was escalating rapidly and the vice president appeared eager to stake out a middle ground. —Brian Mann, NPR, 7 June 2025

Ambitious and acutely aware of the polling on this issue, California Governor Gavin Newsom has tried to stake out a position of common sense. —The Editors, National Review, 4 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1942, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1951, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for stakeout

• roundabout
• runabout
• sauerkraut
• thereabout
• turnabout
• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout