In order to find out what a stake is, you need to refer to the explanatory dictionary. Over the years, this word has acquired several meanings, one of which has gone out of common use. Thanks to phraseological units and sayings, the primary meaning of the word has come down to us.
Origin of the word
So what is a stake? Everyone knows the old saying about poverty: "no stake, no yard." In it, the word "kol" means a strip of fertile land for plowing 2.26 m long. As part of the turnover, the word has acquired a more relevant coloring - it is a stick with a pointed end, which encloses a territory, for example, a land plot. According to Ushakov's dictionary, a stake is a small pole with a sharp end. Its application in the modern world is quite extensive.
Today, stakes are more often used as markings, fences or supports. Horticultural crops are tied to them, so looking into a greenhouse or greenhouse, it will immediately become clear what a stake is. According to Dahl's dictionary, the word "kol" also meant a club, a short pole.
In the course of history, stakes were used as an instrument of torture. Impaling originates in ancient Egypt and persists until the 18th century. The stakes were smallhammered into the chest of the criminal. In the Middle Ages, what a stake was, they knew firsthand, because there was a fierce struggle against vampires and sorcerers. Accordingly, a large number of people suffered a terrible and unjust death.
Modern interpretation
The meaning of the word "count" is known to any student. The number one has a pointed shape that visually resembles a peg. Because of this similarity, the lowest school grade is called a "stake".
Often in everyday colloquial speech, this word is not used in its direct meaning. They say about hardened or frozen objects that they "stand with a stake", and tasteless food "stands with a stake in the throat" and there are a lot of similar examples.