pull up stake vs. pull up stakes

[_Philippe]

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #577 "English Slang Idioms (319)", question 7

"My father was in the Air Force so every time I got used to a place or a school, we were pulled up ......... and moved away to a new town. I got to see a lot of places in the world but it was hard not living anywhere for more than a year or two," Bill told Jan.

(a) stick
(b) stake
(c) stead
(d) stack

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #577 "English Slang Idioms (319)", answer 7

"My father was in the Air Force so every time I got used to a place or a school, we were pulled up stake and moved away to a new town. I got to see a lot of places in the world but it was hard not living anywhere for more than a year or two," Bill told Jan.

Correct answer: (b) stake

Your answer was: incorrect
"My father was in the Air Force so every time I got used to a place or a school, we were pulled up stick and moved away to a new town. I got to see a lot of places in the world but it was hard not living anywhere for more than a year or two," Bill told Jan.
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My dictionaries only know pull up stakes and not stake.
Is stake also correct ?

[OxfordBlues]

It should be stakes.

This saying refers to tearing down an encampment. Tents were secured to the ground with stakes. To pull up stakes meant you were permanently dismantling your camp and moving on to another location.
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[Torsten]

Many thanks for pointing this out. I've made the change and it'll go online with our next database update.

TOEIC short conversations: At the conference registration table