stake: [OE] Stake ‘post’ comes ultimately from the prehistoric Germanic base *stak-, *stek-, *stik- ‘pierce, prick’, which also produced English attach, stick, stockade, etc. It may be that stake ‘wager’ [16] is the same word, alluding to a supposed former practice of putting the object wagered (such as one’s shirt) on a post before the start of the contest. => attach, stick, stockade
stake (n.1)
"pointed stick or post," Old English staca "pin, stake," from Proto-Germanic *stakon (cognates: Old Norse stiaki, Danish stage, Old Frisian stake, Middle Dutch stake, Dutch staak, German stake), from PIE root *steg- (1) "pole, stick." The Germanic word has been borrowed in Spanish (estaca), Old French (estaque), and Italian stacca) and was borrowed back as attach.
Meaning "post upon which persons were bound for death by burning" is recorded from c. 1200. Meaning "vertical bar affixed to the edge of a platform of s truck, rail car, etc., to hold boards to keep the load from falling off" is from 1875; hence stake-body as a type of truck (1907). In pull up stakes, "The allusion is to pulling up the stakes of a tent" [Bartlett].
stake (v.1)
early 14c., "to mark (land) with stakes," from stake (n.1). Hence, to stake a claim (1857). Meaning "to maintain surveilance" (usually stake out) is first recorded 1942, American English colloquial, probably form earlier sense of "mark off territory." Related: Staked; staking. Old English had stacung "piercing of an effigy by a pin or stake" (in witchcraft); staccan "pierce with a stake, spit."
stake (v.2)
"to risk, wager," 1520s, perhaps from notion of "post on which a gambling wager was placed" (see stake (n.2)), though Weekley suggests "there is a tinge of the burning or baiting metaphor" in this usage. Meaning "to maintain surveillance" (usually stake out) is first recorded 1942, American English colloquial, probably form earlier sense of "mark off territory." Related: Staked; staking.
stake (n.2)
"that which is placed at hazard," 1530s, from stake (v.). Perhaps literally "that which is put up," from notion of "post on which a gambling wager was placed," though OED points out there is "no evidence of the existence of such a custom." Weekley suggests "there is a tinge of the burning or baiting metaphor" in this usage. Hence, "an interest, something to gain or lose" (1784). Plural stakes, "sum of money to be won in a (horse) race," first recorded 1690s (compare sweepstakes). To have a stake in is recorded from 1784.
实用例句
1. Dig a largish hole and bang the stake in first.
挖一个大点儿的洞，先把木桩敲进去。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Jane is determined to stake her claim as an actress.
简决心主张自己作为一名女演员的权利。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Competition has been fierce to win a stake in Skoda.
争夺斯柯达股份的竞争极为激烈。
来自柯林斯例句
4. At stake are more than 20,000 jobs in Britain's aerospace sector.
英国航天部门2万多人面临失业的危险。
来自柯林斯例句
5. At stake is the success or failure of world trade talks.
