stakes

ot noun

1. A piece of wood or other material, usually long and slender, pointed at one end so as to be easily driven into the ground as a marker or a support or stay. We have surveyor's stakes at all four corners of this field, to mark exactly its borders.
2. (with definite article) The piece of timber to which a person condemned to death was affixed to be burned. Thomas Cranmer was burnt at the stake.
3. A share or interest in a business or a given situation. The owners let the managers eventually earn a stake in the business.
4. A piece of wood driven in the ground, placed in the middle of the court, that is used as the finishing point after scoring 12 hoops in croquet.

fe’l verb

1. To fasten, support, defend, or delineate with stakes. to stake vines or plants
2. To provide another with money in order to engage in an activity as betting or a business venture. His family staked him $10,000 to get his business started.
3. To pierce or wound with a stake.
4. To put at risk upon success in competition, or upon a future contingency.