stakeout

[ steyk-out ]

noun

1. the surveillance of a location by the police, as in anticipation of a crime or the arrival of a wanted person.
2. the place from which such surveillance is carried out.
3. something that is bounded or separated by or as if by stakes, especially property, territory, or the like that one identifies or claims as one's own.

stakeout

/ ˈsteɪkaʊt /

noun

1. a police surveillance of an area, house, or criminal suspect
2. an area or house kept under such surveillance

verb

1. tr, adverb to keep under surveillance

Word History and Origins

Origin of stakeout¹

First recorded in 1940–45; noun use of verb phrase stake out

Example Sentences

The music cues are refreshingly offbeat; a character whispers the “Green Acres” theme during a nighttime stakeout in a corn field, and the show reprises its fondness for the novelty songs of Roger Miller.

From New York Times

Garland is strongest with impressions: chirping birds over bloody lawns, the laconic humor of exhausted soldiers on a stakeout, a quick shot of Lee deleting some of her own photos, a private mode of self-care.

From Los Angeles Times

An abandoned WeWork office — the perfect place for a stakeout — and a running gag about using sitcom names as aliases bring to mind the anti-corporate glint of “Fight Club.”

From Los Angeles Times

But since no one had ever seen a wolf kill a harbor seal or sea otter, the researchers began a beach stakeout, setting up both camera traps and literally sitting there with cameras in hand.

From National Geographic

A team from a nearby zoo mobilized and drove to the stakeout, prepared to shoot the lioness with a tranquilizer gun, while a separate team of hunters was assembled and put on standby.

From New York Times