\Stock\, n.
1. Raw material; that out of which something is manufactured;
   as, paper stock.
2. (Soap Making) A plain soap which is made into toilet soap
   by adding perfumery, coloring matter, etc.

\Stock\ (st[o^]k), n. [AS. stocc a stock, trunk, stick;
akin to D. stok, G. stock, OHG. stoc, Icel. stokkr, Sw.
stock, Dan. stok, and AS. stycce a piece; cf. Skr. tuj to
urge, thrust. Cf. {Stokker}, {Stucco}, and {Tuck} a rapier.]
1. The stem, or main body, of a tree or plant; the fixed,
   strong, firm part; the trunk.
         Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and
         the stock thereof die in the ground, yet through the
         scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs
         like a plant.                         --Job xiv.
                                               8,9.
2. The stem or branch in which a graft is inserted.
         The scion overruleth the stock quite. --Bacon.
3. A block of wood; something fixed and solid; a pillar; a
   firm support; a post.
         All our fathers worshiped stocks and stones.
                                               --Milton.
         Item, for a stock of brass for the holy water, seven
         shillings; which, by the canon, must be of marble or
         metal, and in no case of brick.       --Fuller.
4. Hence, a person who is as dull and lifeless as a stock or
   post; one who has little sense.
         Let's be no stoics, nor no stocks.    --Shak.
5. The principal supporting part; the part in which others
   are inserted, or to which they are attached. Specifically:
   (a) The wood to which the barrel, lock, etc., of a musket
       or like firearm are secured; also, a long, rectangular
       piece of wood, which is an important part of several
       forms of gun carriage.
   (b) The handle or contrivance by which bits are held in
       boring; a bitstock; a brace.
   (c) (Joinery) The block of wood or metal frame which
       constitutes the body of a plane, and in which the
       plane iron is fitted; a plane stock.
   (d) (Naut.) The wooden or iron crosspiece to which the
       shank of an anchor is attached. See Illust. of
       {Anchor}.
   (e) The support of the block in which an anvil is fixed,
       or of the anvil itself.
   (f) A handle or wrench forming a holder for the dies for
       cutting screws; a diestock.
   (g) The part of a tally formerly struck in the exchequer,
       which was delivered to the person who had lent the
       king money on account, as the evidence of
       indebtedness. See {Counterfoil}. [Eng.]
6. The original progenitor; also, the race or line of a
   family; the progenitor of a family and his direct
   descendants; lineage; family.
         And stand betwixt them made, when, severally, All
         told their stock.                     --Chapman.
         Thy mother was no goddess, nor thy stock From
         Dardanus.                             --Denham.
7. Money or capital which an individual or a firm employs in
   business; fund; in the United States, the capital of a
   bank or other company, in the form of transferable shares,
   each of a certain amount; money funded in government
   securities, called also {the public funds}; in the plural,
   property consisting of shares in joint-stock companies, or
   in the obligations of a government for its funded debt; --
   so in the United States, but in England the latter only
   are called {stocks}, and the former {shares}.
8. (Bookkeeping) Same as {Stock account}, below.
9. Supply provided; store; accumulation; especially, a
   merchant's or manufacturer's store of goods; as, to lay in
   a stock of provisions.
         Add to that stock which justly we bestow. --Dryden.
10. (Agric.) Domestic animals or beasts collectively, used or
    raised on a farm; as, a stock of cattle or of sheep,
    etc.; -- called also {live stock}.
11. (Card Playing) That portion of a pack of cards not
    distributed to the players at the beginning of certain
    games, as gleek, etc., but which might be drawn from
    afterward as occasion required; a bank.
          I must buy the stock; send me good cardings.
                                               --Beau. & Fl.
12. A thrust with a rapier; a stoccado. [Obs.]
13. [Cf. {Stocking}.] A covering for the leg, or leg and
    foot; as, upper stocks (breeches); nether stocks
    (stockings). [Obs.]
          With a linen stock on one leg.       --Shak.
14. A kind of stiff, wide band or cravat for the neck; as, a
    silk stock.
15. pl. A frame of timber, with holes in which the feet, or
    the feet and hands, of criminals were formerly confined
    by way of punishment.
          He shall rest in my stocks.          --Piers
                                               Plowman.
16. pl. (Shipbuilding) The frame or timbers on which a ship
    rests while building.
17. pl. Red and gray bricks, used for the exterior of walls
    and the front of buildings. [Eng.]
18. (Bot.) Any cruciferous plant of the genus {Matthiola};
    as, common stock ({Matthiola incana}) (see
    {Gilly-flower}); ten-weeks stock ({M. annua}).
19. (Geol.) An irregular metalliferous mass filling a large
    cavity in a rock formation, as a stock of lead ore
    deposited in limestone.
20. A race or variety in a species.
21. (Biol.) In tectology, an aggregate or colony of persons
    (see {Person}), as trees, chains of salp[ae], etc.
22. The beater of a fulling mill. --Knight.
23. (Cookery) A liquid or jelly containing the juices and
    soluble parts of meat, and certain vegetables, etc.,
    extracted by cooking; -- used in making soup, gravy, etc.
{Bit stock}. See {Bitstock}.
{Dead stock} (Agric.), the implements of husbandry, and
   produce stored up for use; -- in distinction from live
   stock, or the domestic animals on the farm. See def. 10,
   above.
{Head stock}. See {Headstock}.
{Paper stock}, rags and other material of which paper is
   made.
{Stock account} (Bookkeeping), an account on a merchant's
   ledger, one side of which shows the original capital, or
   stock, and the additions thereto by accumulation or
   contribution, the other side showing the amounts
   withdrawn.
{Stock car}, a railway car for carrying cattle.
{Stock company} (Com.), an incorporated company the capital
   of which is represented by marketable shares having a
   certain equal par value.
{Stock duck} (Zo["o]l.), the mallard.
{Stock exchange}.
    (a) The building or place where stocks are bought and
        sold; stock market; hence, transactions of all kinds
        in stocks.
    (b) An association or body of stockbrokers who meet and
        transact business by certain recognized forms,
        regulations, and usages. --Wharton. Brande & C.
{Stock farmer}, a farmer who makes it his business to rear
   live stock.
{Stock gillyflower} (Bot.), the common stock. See {Stock},
   n., 18.
{Stock gold}, gold laid up so as to form a stock, or hoard.
{Stock in trade}, the goods kept for sale by a shopkeeper;
   the fittings and appliances of a workman. --Simmonds.
{Stock list}, a list of stocks, or shares, dealt in, of
   transactions, and of prices.
{Stock lock}, a lock inclosed in a wooden case and attached
   to the face of a door.
{Stock market}.
    (a) A place where stocks are bought and sold; the stock
        exchange.
    (b) A market for live stock.
{Stock pigeon}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Stockdove}.
{Stock purse}.
    (a) A common purse, as distinguished from a private
        purse.
    (b) (Mil.) Moneys saved out of the expenses of a company
        or regiment, and applied to objects of common
        interest. [Eng.]
{Stock shave}, a tool used by blockmakers.
{Stock station}, a place or district for rearing stock.
   [Australia] --W. Howitt.
{Stock tackle} (Naut.), a tackle used when the anchor is
   hoisted and secured, to keep its stock clear of the ship's
   sides. --Totten.
{Stock taking}, an examination and inventory made of goods or
   stock in a shop or warehouse; -- usually made
   periodically.
{Tail stock}. See {Tailstock}.
{To have something on the stock}, to be at work at something.
{To take stock}, to take account of stock; to make an
   inventory of stock or goods on hand. --Dickens.
{To take stock in}.
    (a) To subscribe for, or purchase, shares in a stock
        company.
    (b) To put faith in; to accept as trustworthy; as, to
        take stock in a person's fidelity. [Slang]
{To take stock of}, to take account of the stock of; to take
   an inventory of; hence, to ascertain the facts in regard
   to (something). [Eng.]
         At the outset of any inquiry it is proper to take
         stock of the results obtained by previous explorers
         of the same field.                    --Leslie
                                               Stephen.
Syn: Fund; capital; store; supply; accumulation; hoard;
     provision.

\Stock\ (st[o^]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Stocked}
(st[o^]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. {Stocking}.]
1. To lay up; to put aside for future use; to store, as
   merchandise, and the like.
2. To provide with material requisites; to store; to fill; to
   supply; as, to stock a warehouse, that is, to fill it with
   goods; to stock a farm, that is, to supply it with cattle
   and tools; to stock land, that is, to occupy it with a
   permanent growth, especially of grass.
3. To suffer to retain milk for twenty-four hours or more
   previous to sale, as cows.
4. To put in the stocks. [R.] --Shak.
{To stock an anchor} (Naut.), to fit it with a stock, or to
   fasten the stock firmly in place.
{To stock cards} (Card Playing), to arrange cards in a
   certain manner for cheating purposes. [Cant]
{To stock down} (Agric.), to sow, as plowed land, with grass
   seed, in order that it may become swarded, and produce
   grass.
{To stock up}, to extirpate; to dig up.

\Stock\, a.
Used or employed for constant service or application, as if
constituting a portion of a stock or supply; standard;
permanent; standing; as, a stock actor; a stock play; a stock
sermon. ``A stock charge against Raleigh.'' --C. Kingsley.
{Stock company} (Theater), a company of actors regularly
   employed at one theater, or permanently acting together in
   various plays under one management.