stake a claim

Idioms

Also, stake out a claim. Indicate something as one's own, as in I'm staking a claim to the drumstick, or She staked out a claim for herself in the insurance business. This term, dating from the mid-1800s, originally meant “register a claim to land by marking it with stakes.” It was being used figuratively by the late 1800s.

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.

But with most places in the team solidified, it seems the big calls that remain are mainly around who can stake a claim to be in the wider squad.

From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026

"Judging accurately is almost impossible. As long as we haven't solved that issue, it will be difficult" to stake a claim for the Olympics.

From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026

It was a statement that preemptively denied the country music industry the opportunity to stake a claim on her work while also indicating that she had found a creative path around the genre’s confines.

From New York Times • Mar. 26, 2024

Newsom — now in his second term and seen as a potential Democratic presidential candidate beyond 2024 — has worked hard to stake a claim as the nation’s most environmentally-conscious governor.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 30, 2024

I own as I do not, although I stake a claim on a pretty decent fashion sense, on account of my longstanding friendship with a certain party by the name of Joe Bunch.

From "The Misfits" by James Howe

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