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Synonyms

stake out

Idioms  

  1. Keep an area or person under police surveillance; also, assign someone to conduct such a surveillance. For example, They staked out the house, or He was staked out in the alley, watching for drug dealers. [c. 1940]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

On the ground, Israeli troops have crossed the border to search homes and stake out what the military calls forward defensive positions on strategic hilltops.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

The tiny rituals help stake out a sense of ease: a truly good, no-notes dip; a bowl of warm, spiced nuts that perfumes the whole apartment the moment the door opens.

From Salon • Dec. 9, 2025

Its solution, for now, is to continually stake out middle ground when conflicts between the two branches’ agendas arise.

From Slate • May 27, 2025

A handful of EV makers are still trying to stake out territory in the burgeoning industry, though none have had the widespread success of Elon Musk’s Tesla.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2025

Our house sat on concrete stilts that allowed enough headroom underneath for us to stake out play areas with clearly defined boundaries.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.