Stake put underground, set to rot
I believe the answer is:
interest
'stake' is the definition.
('interest' can be a synonym of 'stake')
'put underground set to rot' is the wordplay.
'put underground' becomes 'inter' (I've seen this before).
'to rot' indicates an anagram (I've seen 'rotting' mean this).
'set' is an anagram of 'est'.
'inter'+'est'='INTEREST'
(Other definitions for interest that I've seen before include "attention is shown" , "Care" , "Principal" , "Return" , "thing" .)