stakeout

American  

[steyk-out] / ˈsteɪkˌaʊt /

noun

1. the surveillance of a location by the police, as in anticipation of a crime or the arrival of a wanted person.

2. the place from which such surveillance is carried out.

3. something that is bounded or separated by or as if by stakes, especially property, territory, or the like that one identifies or claims as one's own.

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stakeout British  

/ ˈsteɪkaʊt /

noun

1. a police surveillance of an area, house, or criminal suspect

2. an area or house kept under such surveillance

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verb

1. (tr, adverb) to keep under surveillance

Etymology

Origin of stakeout

First recorded in 1940–45; noun use of verb phrase stake out

Explanation

When police officers watch a suspect's house, keeping an eye on who's coming and going, they call it a stakeout. Most stakeouts are done stealthily, with the officers trying to avoid being seen. Detectives on a stakeout often spend long hours sitting in an unmarked police car, watching a house or building. The stakeout might, for example, be used to prove that a suspect who claims to need a wheelchair can actually to walk, or that two people who say they've never met each other are actually close friends. The word comes from the stake that a surveyor uses to mark off a piece of land, and it's been around since the 1940's.

Example Sentences

Supermarket Stakeout Four chefs are handing out cash to shoppers in Glendale as they compete to make the best barbecue dish in this new episode.

From Los Angeles Times • May 25, 2020

Supermarket Stakeout Host Alex Guarnaschelli returns for another season of this culinary competition where chefs set up in a pop-up kitchen outside a grocery store and attempt to negotiate for customers’ grocery bags.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 16, 2020

Supermarket Stakeout Iron chef Alex Guarnaschelli hosts this engaging new culinary competition series in which four chefs compete in three rounds in pop-up kitchens outside supermarkets.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 13, 2019

The experts camping in Alaska for five months for the Great Bear Stakeout.

From The Guardian • Apr. 25, 2013

For Stakeout, Writer Jim Kauf devised a plausible, original and engaging premise.

From Time Magazine Archive