to assert a point of view or take decisive action at a relatively early stage, where much remains unknown but a working hypothesis must be adopted for progress to be made, as in, “I know all the options are risky, but you need to put a stake in the ground for where we invest next”; the phrase may be interjected when a deliberative process has so far yielded waffling or equivocation and a more robust, confident plan is required; derives from the former practice of claiming unsettled territory by driving wooden stakes into the ground, thus marking off the area claimed as one’s own; the one who puts his or her metaphorical stake in the ground is similarly defining a position that will then need to be managed and defended; when used as an imperative this expression can be a roundabout way of telling someone “We don’t have the facts yet, so make a guess by the deadline”