stakes 1 of 2

noun

plural of stake
1
as in interests
a legal right to participation in the advantages, profits, and responsibility of something if I invest in your business, I expect a stake in it in return

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2
as in bets
the money or thing risked on the outcome of an uncertain event lost his entire stake with a single roll of the dice

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stakes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of stake
1
as in funds
to provide money for the actor staked the entire production of the film with his own money

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in puts
to risk (something) on the outcome of an uncertain event I'd stake a year's salary that she'll win the general election

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stakes
Noun
On Monday, Penta and Fenix showcased the good that comes along with professional wrestling – two men who know each other very well battling it out with important stakes attached. — Ryan Gaydos Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 Sep. 2026 Newsom acknowledged the bill made some progress to address the contentious, high-stakes issue. — ABC News, 1 Sep. 2026 Garza and the Yankees plan to continue scouting the right-hander, who was recently clocked at 97 mph during Summer Koshien, Japan’s annual high-stakes high school baseball tournament. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 31 Aug. 2026 Filmed over four days at a ranch in Canada, the series puts exes, rivals, friends and familiar faces under one roof for high-stakes competition. — Peter White, Deadline, 31 Aug. 2026 The repatriation of millions of Syrians further raises the political stakes. — Jesse Marks, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2026 With ongoing advocacy and reform, football not only persisted in colleges, but spread across the population and deepened its social, political, economic, and emotional stakes, carrying along with it the problem of traumatic brain injury. — Emily Harrison, STAT, 31 Aug. 2026 Narrated by Quaid, Water Wars explores a high-stakes legal battle over water rights in Texas, pitting ranchers and farmers against some of the state’s wealthiest landowners. — Lily Brown, PEOPLE, 27 Aug. 2026 This dwindling buffer forces the nation into a high-stakes standoff against the uncompromising laws of fluid dynamics, immense geological forces, strict federal statutes, and relentless geopolitical pressure. — Siddharth Misra, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026
Verb
Cuban refugee Tony Montana arrives in Miami as part of the Mariel boatlift and quickly stakes his claim in the city’s drug trade. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Sep. 2026 The sentences mark a key moment in China’s continuing real-estate crisis, which has dented consumer confidence in the country – and caused a headache for a government that stakes its legitimacy on rising prosperity. — Sylvie Zhuang, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026 Kent Nishimura | Reuters The Senate stakes McConnell, a former longtime Senate majority leader, declined to seek an eighth term following a series of health scares. — Luke Fountain, CNBC, 8 July 2026 Dar Zéro founder Brigid Smith stakes her claim on bohemian style, blending gritty luxury with elevated, global influences. — Rebecca Suhrawardi, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026 The Arab Republic of Egypt (1953) stakes a natural claim to the Rosetta Stone, which was commissioned in 196 BCE by a Greek-speaking pharaoh of Macedonian descent, and unearthed near Alexandria by French engineers in 1799. — Literary Hub, 18 May 2026 Ocean Casino Resort stakes its claim directly on the Atlantic City Boardwalk with views of a ferris wheel and lighthouse as though to remind you of the city’s modest beachtown origins. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 May 2026 November stakes In Lake County, the positions of Clerk, Treasurer, and Sheriff — currently held by Anthony Vega, Holly Kim and John Idleburg, respectively — are all coming up for election, as well as county board positions for Districts 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 19. — Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2026 Small towns may have the majority of oceanfront real estate, but Pensacola stakes its claim with more than 50 miles of white-sand shoreline. — Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 12 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stakes
  1. interests
  2. bets
  3. funds
  4. puts
  5. shares
  6. wagers
  7. finances
Noun
  • After years of work to finally make this street safer, Sacramento is threatening that progress because powerful interests objected.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Axl has appeared in mom’s projects Like Duhamel, Fergie allows her son to pursue his passions and interests without pushing him toward a specific career path.
    — Francesca Gariano, PEOPLE, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of interests
Noun
  • According to TickerTracker, about 78% of Kalshi’s volume this month, roughly $26 billion, has come from sports and parlays, an all-or nothing bundle of bets that are popular with sports.
    — Marshall Cohen, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Few have placed bigger bets than Blackstone on the AI revolution, which demands massive funding for large language models and the data centers and energy infrastructure that power them.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of bets
Verb
  • Movies in this class are, paradigmatically, produced, written, and directed by the same person, who generally also plays the devastatingly handsome romantic lead (and often funds the proceedings with money earned in some unrelated capacity).
    — Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026
  • The trio accused the US Department of Defense of charging them with insubordination for publicly supporting that editorial independence in covering the agency, which partly funds the publication.
    — Liam Reilly, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of funds
Verb
  • Its strategy puts manufacturing speed alongside reactor performance.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Oracle shares have plunged more than 23% in 2026, which puts it on pace to snap a three-year winning streak and mark its biggest annual slide since 2001.
    — Alex Harring, CNBC, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of puts
Noun
  • Madison Square Garden Entertainment shares are up 45% this year.
    — Michael Bloom, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2026
  • While new medicines are likely more than a year away from hitting US shelves, analysts expect Cosmo shares to nearly double over the next 12 months.
    — Avalon Pernell, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of shares
Noun
  • Prediction markets also offer bets on election results, and some states are explicitly trying to get those types of wagers banned, too.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Kalshi said Santos made more than $17,000 in profit on the wagers.
    — Bobby Allyn, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of wagers
Verb
  • The project is funded by Measure LB, an $850-million bond measure that finances LBCC construction.
    — Kate Raphael, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Globo fully finances the films, without tapping Brazilian incentives for film production.
    — Marcelo Cajueiro, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of finances

Phrases Containing stakes

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Cite this Entry

“Stakes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stakes. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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