a pointed wooden or iron post used for driving into the ground as a marker or support

a group of wards forming an administrative district in the Mormon Church

to support (a plant) with a stake

to tether (an animal) to a stake

to bet or hazard (a sum of money, one's reputation, etc)

I'll stake my good name … that the track is a fresh one — Conan Doyle

chiefly NAmer to back (a person or business concern) financially

something, esp a sum of money, that is staked

an interest or share in an undertaking, e.g. a commercial venture

(also in pl) the prize in a contest, esp a horse race

(often Stakes) (in pl, treated as pl or sing.) used in the names of horse races to denote a race in which all the owners of the competing horses contribute equally to the prize money

(in pl) the competitive context in which an activity is conducted

It was normal to develop a comfortable middle-aged spread and to withdraw from the sex and beauty stakes — Mary Batchelor