stakeout
62
6.5
- noun
- /ˈsteɪkˌaʊt/
:
vigilancia
- After a lengthy stakeout outside the warehouse, they finally observed the criminal making a deal.
- a police stakeout
- a stakeout to catch
- a night stakeout
Examples
-
I know what it's like on a stakeout.
-
I finally left the stakeout at around eleven o'clock.
Fiction book (1995) -
Well, we're on a stakeout.
-
You guys were on the stakeout?
-
Is he always like this on a stakeout?
-
I thought that was the usual menu when cops were on stakeout.
Fiction book (1995) -
Officer Bardwell and Jack observed the transaction from their stakeout on the third floor of the elementary school.
Fiction book (1992) -
The two Russian operatives continue their stakeout of Agnieska's apartment.
Fiction book (1997) -
Dad didn't take me to too many ball games, but we did go on a lot of stakeouts.
-
Let's do a stakeout.
Synonyms
526
6.2
Careful, continuous watching of people or places by the police
11
4.9
Secret work where someone gathers information for the police or security
A planned way to watch and collect information about people or places for security
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
stakeout = stake out (opaque) = out + stake
Although the form is built from 'stake out', the police-surveillance meaning is lexicalized and not directly predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
The word stakeout comes from the phrase stake out, which originally meant 'to mark' or 'claim' a place with a stake. A helpful image is police quietly waiting by that marked spot until a suspect appears, and that's why a stakeout is a secret watch.