If something is at stake, it is being risked and might be lost or damaged if you are not successful.

The stakes involved in a contest or a risky action are the things that can be gained or lost.

If you stake something such as your money or your reputation on the result of something, you risk your money or reputation on it.

If you have a stake in something such as a business, it matters to you, for example because you own part of it or because its success or failure will affect you.

You can use stakes to refer to something that is like a contest. For example, you can refer to the choosing of a leader as the leadership stakes .

A stake is a pointed wooden post which is pushed into the ground, for example in order to support a young tree.

If you stake a claim, you say that something is yours or that you have a right to it.