stakeout
noun
stake·out
| \ ˈstāk-ˌau̇t
\
\
Definition of stakeout
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a surveillance maintained by the police of an area or a person suspected of criminal activity
stake out
verb
staked out;
staking out;
stakes out
Definition of stake out (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: to assign (someone, such as a police officer) to an area usually to conduct a surveillance
2
: to maintain a stakeout of
3
: to claim as one's own
Examples of stakeout in a Sentence
Noun
The drug deal was witnessed during a stakeout of the building. The police were on a stakeout.Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Williams was captured during a police stakeout in May 1981. — Michele Corriston, PEOPLE.com, "Everything to Know About the Real Serial Killers of Mindhunter Season 2," 19 Aug. 2019 Antonella Barba, 32, pleaded guilty in a Norfolk court Tuesday after she was caught by a police stakeout in Virginia last year with a large amount of the synthetic opioid. — Fox News, "Former 'American Idol' contestant pleads guilty to moving nearly 2 pounds of fentanyl, could face up to 10 years in prison," 31 July 2019 Never underestimate Logan’s love of pushing people’s buttons, Leo! Especially when your working lunch turns into a five-hour stakeout … which in Veronica’s world is definitely a date. — Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, "Hulu's Veronica Mars revival binge recap for every episode," 19 July 2019 Photos from the stakeout were published in the Herald on May 3, 1987. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "The True Story of Gary Hart's Presidential Campaign Scandal in The Front Runner," 8 Nov. 2018 The robbery suspects were caught Nov. 3 after police spotted them during a stakeout and pursued them onto the Capital Beltway and their van crashed. — Dan Morse, Washington Post, "Her job with the MS-13 robbery crew: Case the businesses and wipe down the guns.," 5 July 2018 The unidentified friend notified authorities and, on April 24, Araujo and Abell were in custody in Broward County after a brief stakeout. — Jose Lambiet, miamiherald, "'Some kind of love triangle': Pair charged with brutal slaying of Miami woman | Miami Herald," 30 Apr. 2018 Todd Edwards, an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Baltimore, testified that during a 2016 stakeout Jenkins got out of a vehicle with tinted windows and knocked on Edwards’ car window at a parking lot in southern Maryland. — David Mcfadden, USA TODAY, "Ex-Baltimore detectives testify about force’s robberies, illegal activities," 29 Jan. 2018 Map shows where East Area Rapist struck in Sacramento The Visalia attacks ended after area police began saturating neighborhoods with stakeouts designed to catch the Ransacker. — Sam Stanton, sacbee, "He was a teen chasing a prowler in 1977. He ended up being shot by the East Area Rapist," 8 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stakeout.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for stakeout
stakeout
noun
English Language Learners Definition of stakeout
: a situation in which the police secretly watch a place in order to look for illegal activity
See the full definition for stakeout in the English Language Learners Dictionary