Stake

1. v. t. That which is laid down as a wager; that which is staked or hazarded; a pledge.
2. v. t. A piece of wood, usually long and slender, pointed at one end so as to be easily driven into the ground as a support or stay; as, a stake to support vines, fences, hedges, etc.
3. v. t. A stick inserted upright in a lop, eye, or mortise, at the side or end of a cart, a flat car, or the like, to prevent goods from falling off.
4. v. t. The piece of timber to which a martyr was affixed to be burned; hence, martyrdom by fire.
5. v. t. A small anvil usually furnished with a tang to enter a hole in a bench top, — used by tinsmiths, blacksmiths, etc., for light work, punching upon, etc.

The word meanings were obtained from OPTED(The Online Plain Text English Dictionary), which is based on “The Project Gutenberg Etext of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary” which is in turn based on the 1913 US Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (See Project Gutenburg), as a text file.