stake-out n.
1. (orig. US) the surveillance of a suspect by police or private investigator stationed in clandestine hiding places.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Argot: Dict. of Und. Sl. | |
| Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye in Four Novels (1983) 135: Why do you think they let this guy breeze in and out of their stake-out and not pick him up? | |
| Killer’s Wedge (1981) 21: Brown’s on a plant [...] A plant. A stakeout, call it what you want to. | |
| Return of the Hood 23: Newbolder and Schmidt had been alternatively holding a steady stakeout on my apartment. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Mute Witness (1997) 96: Mary Kelly’s there, across the street, on a stake. | |
| No Beast So Fierce 181: Stake outs for robbers are invariably announced by the flatulent roar of a shotgun rather than a demand to surrender. | |
| London Fields 112: The odd daughter too when he was on stake-outs for the local firm. | |
| Lucky You 106: He and JoLayne Lucks were parked under a streetlight on what she called the Big Stakeout. | |
| Deuce’s Wild 114: Working late. Big case [...] Had to travel. On a stakeout. | |
| Hard Bounce [ebook] Our first stakeout. [...] For supplies, we brought six cans of metallic-tasting iced coffee, a carton of smokes, and three pounds of candy. | |
| (con. 1962) Enchanters 40: Ajax TV Repair. It’s a good ride for night stakeouts . |
2. attrib. use of sense 1.
| Glitter Dome (1982) 67: Gibson Hand knew that the stakeout team outside must be moving in by now. |
3. (US) one who conducts such a surveillance.
| Big Gold Dream 82: If the police had a stake-out, he must be in another apartment. |
4. (US Und.) the preparatory surveillance of the target of a robbery, e.g. a bank or diamond merchant.
| Gonif 7: The three weeks of preparation, the intensive stake-out, the exacting detail with which we approached the mark. | |
| Hunter 230: This was the worst part of the job—the stake-out. It was boring and time-consuming. |