stock
• noun 1 a supply of goods or materials available for sale or use. 2 farm animals bred and kept for their meat or milk; livestock. 3 the capital of a company raised through the issue and subscription of shares. 4 (stocks) a portion of a company’s stock held by an individual or group as an investment. 5 securities issued by the government in fixed units with a fixed rate of interest. 6 water in which bones, meat, fish, or vegetables have been slowly simmered. 7 the raw material from which a specified commodity can be manufactured. 8 a person’s ancestry. 9 a breed, variety, or population of an animal or plant. the trunk or woody stem of a tree or shrub. a plant cultivated for its fragrant flowers, typically lilac, pink, or white. (the stocks) treated as sing. or pl. historical a wooden structure with holes for securing a person’s feet and hands, in which criminals were locked as a method of public punishment. the part of a firearm to which the barrel and firing mechanism are attached. a band of material worn round the neck. • adjective 1 usually kept in stock and thus regularly available for sale. 2 constantly recurring, common, or conventional: stock characters. • verb 1 have or keep a stock of. 2 provide or fill with a stock of something. 3 (stock up) amass stocks of something. — PHRASES in (or out of) stock available (or unavailable) for immediate sale or use. put stock in have a specified amount of belief or faith in. take stock make an overall assessment of a particular situation. — ORIGIN Old English, trunk, block of wood, post .
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