back vs stake

back

verb
  • To draw from behind the back [+accusative = a knife etc.] (as also back out). 

  • To go in the reverse direction. 

  • To lay out a second, smaller anchor to provide additional holding power. 

  • To push or force backwards. 

  • To adjoin behind; to be at the back of. 

  • To support. 

  • To stand still behind another dog which has pointed. 

  • To brace the yards so that the wind presses on the front of the sail, to slow the ship. 

  • To change direction contrary to the normal pattern; that is, to shift anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere, or clockwise in the southern hemisphere. 

  • To make a back for; to furnish with a back. 

  • To write upon the back of, possibly as an endorsement. 

  • To sign or endorse (a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender). 

  • To row backward with (oars). 

  • To carry an infant on one's back. 

postp
  • Before now; ago. 

adj
  • Pronounced with the highest part of the body of the tongue toward the back of the mouth, near the soft palate (most often describing a vowel). 

  • Not current. 

  • Situated away from the main or most frequented areas. 

  • At or near the rear. 

  • Returned or restored to a previous place or condition. 

  • Moving or operating backward. 

  • In arrears; overdue. 

noun
  • Effort, usually physical. 

  • The reverse side; the side that is not normally seen. 

  • The keel and keelson of a ship. 

  • A large shallow vat; a cistern, tub, or trough, used by brewers, distillers, dyers, picklers, gluemakers, and others, for mixing or cooling wort, holding water, hot glue, etc. 

  • The part of something that goes last. 

  • The spine and associated tissues. 

  • The backrest, the part of a piece of furniture which receives the human back. 

  • A ferryboat. 

  • The roof of a horizontal underground passage. 

  • Large and attractive buttocks. 

  • The inside margin of a page. 

  • The edge of a book which is bound. 

  • In some team sports, a position behind most players on the team. 

  • A support or resource in reserve. 

  • The rear of the body, especially the part between the neck and the end of the spine and opposite the chest and belly. 

  • A non-alcoholic drink (often water or a soft drink), to go with hard liquor or a cocktail. 

  • Among leather dealers, one of the thickest and stoutest tanned hides. 

  • Area behind, such as the backyard of a house. 

  • The side of a blade opposite the side used for cutting. 

  • The side of any object which is opposite the front or useful side. 

  • That which is farthest away from the front. 

  • The part of a piece of clothing which covers the back. 

  • Upper part of a natural object which is considered to resemble an animal's back. 

adv
  • In a direction opposite to the usual or desired direction of movement or progress, physically or figuratively. 

  • So as to reverse direction and return. 

  • Away from someone or something; at a distance. 

  • Away from the front or from an edge. 

  • In a manner that impedes. 

  • In a reciprocal manner; in return. 

  • So as shrink, recede or move aside, or cause to do so. 

  • To a later point in time. See also put back. 

  • Towards, into or in the past. 

  • To or in a previous condition or place. 

  • Earlier, ago. 

  • In a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing. 

stake

verb
  • To pierce or wound with a stake. 

  • To put at risk upon success in competition, or upon a future contingency. 

  • To fasten, support, defend, or delineate with stakes. 

  • To provide another with money in order to engage in an activity as betting or a business venture. 

  • To deposit and risk a considerable amount of cryptocurrency in order to participate in the proof of stake process of verification. 

noun
  • The piece of timber to which a person condemned to death was affixed to be burned. 

  • A share or interest in a business or a given situation. 

  • That which is laid down as a wager; that which is staked or hazarded; a pledge. 

  • A small anvil usually furnished with a tang to enter a hole in a bench top, as used by tinsmiths, blacksmiths, etc., for light work, punching hole in or cutting a work piece, or for specific forming techniques etc. 

  • A territorial division comprising all the Mormons (typically several thousand) in a geographical area. 

  • A piece of wood driven in the ground, placed in the middle of the court, that is used as the finishing point after scoring 12 hoops in croquet. 

  • A piece of wood or other material, usually long and slender, pointed at one end so as to be easily driven into the ground as a marker or a support or stay. 

  • A stick inserted upright in a lop, eye, or mortise, at the side or end of a cart, flat car, flatbed trailer, or the like, to prevent goods from falling off. 

How often have the words back and stake occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )