pull up stakes

verb

"pull-up-stakes" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pull up stakes” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To prepare to move one's (usually temporary) habitation, especially rapidly.

Key facts for pull up stakes
PropertyValue
Headwordpull up stakes
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “pull up stakes” sits in English frequency

pull up stakes falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for pull up stakes is 14 letters long, classified as a verb. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To prepare to move one's (usually temporary) habitation, especially rapidly.".

Zero misspellings are on record for pull up stakes in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is pull up stakes, spelled P-U-L-L- -U-P- -S-T-A-K-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    To prepare to move one's (usually temporary) habitation, especially rapidly.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pull up stakes"?
"pull up stakes" is spelled P-U-L-L- -U-P- -S-T-A-K-E-S.
What does "pull up stakes" mean?
As a verb, "pull up stakes" means: To prepare to move one's (usually temporary) habitation, especially rapidly.
What language does "pull up stakes" come from?
"pull up stakes" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “pull up stakes”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-U-L-L- -U-P- -S-T-A-K-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list