■ noun
1》 a supply of goods or materials available for sale or use.
2》 farm animals bred and kept for their meat or milk; live~.
3》 the capital raised by a company through the issue and subscription of shares.
↘(usu. ~s ) a portion of this as held by an individual or group as an investment.
↘securities issued by the government in fixed units with a fixed rate of interest.
4》 water in which bones, meat, fish, or vegetables have been slowly simmered.
↘the raw material from which a specified commodity can be manufactured.
5》 a person's ancestry or line of descent.
↘a breed, variety, or population of an animal or plant.
6》 the trunk or woody stem of a tree or shrub, especially one into which a graft (scion) is inserted.
↘the perennial part of a herbaceous plant, especially a rhizome.
7》 a plant cultivated for its fragrant flowers, typically lilac, pink, or white. [Genus Matthiola : several species.]
8》 ( the ~s ) [treated as sing. or plural ] historical an instrument of punishment consisting of a wooden structure with holes for securing a person's feet and hands, in which criminals were locked and exposed to public ridicule or assault.
9》 the part of a rifle or other firearm to which the barrel and firing mechanism are attached.
↘the crossbar of an anchor.
↘the handle of a whip, fishing rod, etc.
10》 a band of white material tied like a cravat and worn as a part of formal horse-riding dress.
↘a piece of black material worn under a clerical collar.
11》 ( ~s ) a frame used to support a ship or boat when out of water.
■ adjective
1》 usually kept in ~ and thus regularly available for sale.
2》 constantly recurring; conventional or stereotyped: the ~ characters in every cowboy film.
■ verb
1》 have or keep a ~ of.
↘provide or fill with a ~ of something.
↘( ~ up ) amass ~s of something.
2》 fit (a rifle or other firearm) with a ~.
Phrases
in (or out of ) ~ available (or unavailable) for immediate sale or use.
on the ~s in construction or preparation.
put ~ in have a specified amount of belief or faith in: I don't put much ~ in modern medicine.
take ~ make an overall assessment of a particular situation.
Derivatives
~less adjective
Origin
OE stoc(c) 'trunk, block of wood, post', of Gmc origin.