staking out
Conducting prolonged surveillance
Staking out means watching a place secretly and continuously, typically by law enforcement surveilling a suspect's location: The detectives spent three nights staking out the warehouse.
The phrase can extend to claiming territory by persistent presence: Fans were staking out the hotel lobby hoping to spot the band.
- stakeoutProlonged covert observation
- casing the jointObserving before a crime
- monitoringOngoing observation of something
- trackingMonitoring location over time
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
keeping tabs · stealthy · watching · on the lookout · claiming · marking territory · police · observation · shadowing · pegging · cordoning · reconnaissance · demarcation · spying · eavesdropping · plotting · scouting · undercover cop
- stealthsneak, ninja, creep, spy, skulk
- perceptionsee, vision, seeing, senses, observing
- surveillancesurveillance, CCTV, security camera, surveillance camera, surveillance cameras
- establishing positiondigging in, anchoring, fortifying, marking territory, holding ground
staking outquick glance
Short, rapid look
glimpsing · peeking · passing by · cursory look · scanning
staking outintervening
Coming between to affect
confronting · moving in · taking action · walking away · ignoring
stake, staking, out, stakes, staked, outing, outer, outward, outwardly