Idiom
stake out somethingstake out (something)
1.
to claim something belongs to you.
To avoid a long wait to eat lunch, one of you stakes out a table and the other gets the food.Lars staked out a cot in a third-floor bedroom and tried to make it seem like his own space.
2.
to secretly watch a place.
Private detectives staked out their house, went through their garbage, and interviewed their neighbors.