stoccade 
Stoccadet, ''. t. See stockndr. 
stoccadot, Stoccatat, . Same as stoccade. 
stocco (stok'o), a. lift.: see foefci,rto60acfo.] A 
long straight sword for thrusting, similar to the 
tuck. See titc/c't and entm: 
stochastict (sto-kas'tik), . [< Qr. en- 
able to hit or to guess, conjecturing, < , u/f , ,,-. 
Sat, aim at, endeavor after, < ar6 X oc, aim, shot, 
guess. ] Conjectural ; given to or partaking of 
conjecture. 
T . ho ?? h h ,1 [Si r , T ; Brow " e l w ere no prophet, . , . yet 
in that faculty which comes nearest to it he excelled i e 
the Stochaxtick, wherein he was seldom mistaken as to fu- 
ture events, as well publick as private 
Whitefoot, quoted in .Sir T. Browne's Works, I. xlvii. 
Stock 1 (stok), n. and a. [< ME.stockc, stokkc. stok 
state, stoc (pi. stokkes, the stocks), < AS stoe 
stocc (stocc-), a post, trunk, stock, = OFries 
stok = MD. stock, D. stok = MLG. stok, LG. stock 
= OHG. stoc, stoch, MHG. stoc (> It. stocco, a ra- 
pier), G. stock = Icel. stolckr = Dan. stok = Sw 
stock (not recorded in Goth.), a post, stock 
(hence, from Teut., OF. estoc, a stock, trunk of 
a tree, race, etc., = It. stocco, a stock, trunk of 
a tree, rapier, etc. : see stocco, stoccade, stock* 
tH,:k* , etc. ) ; generally supposed to be connected 
with the similar words, of similar sense, stick* 
,1 j \th stack ' 
)ar. Ass 
-. original, a connection may ^ 
surmised with Skt. -/fry (orig. "stugl), thrust. 
The senses of this noun are numerous and com- 
plicated; the ME. senses are in part due to the 
)F. estoc.] I. n.l. A wooden post ; a stake ; a 
stump. 
The Cros of oure Lord was made of 4 manere of Trees 
... and the Stock, that stode within the Erthe 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 10. 
Ley this ronde plate upon an evene grond or on an evene 
ston or on an evene stok fix in the gronde. 
Chaucer, Astrolabe, 11. 38. 
They all went downward, fleetly and gaily downward 
and only he, it seemed, remained behind, like ustock upon 
the wayside. Jt. L. Stevenson, Will o' the Mill. 
2. A wooden block; a block; a log; hence, 
something lifeless and senseless. 
He swore hire yis, by stokkes and by stones 
And by the goddes that in hevene dwelle. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iii. 689. 
There was an exe, and a stoke, and oon of the lewdeste 
J! if '"'PP 6 badde hym ley down his hedde, and he 
should be fair ferd wyth, and dye on a swerd. 
Paston Letters, 1. 125. 
More than dead stocks would startle at such beauty 
Chapman, Blind Beggar of Alexandria. 
And those made thee forsake thy God 
And worship stocks and stones. 
Wanton Wife of Bath (Child's Ballads, VIII. 155). 
3. A person who is as dull and senseless as a 
block or a log. 
Let 's be no stoics nor no stocks. Shak. , T. of the S., i. 1. 31. 
Such a stock of a child, such a statue ! Why, he has no 
kind of feeling either of body or mind. 
Brooke, Fool of Quality, Iii. 
What a phlegmatic sot it is ! Why, sirrah, you 'r an an- 
chorite ! a vile insensible stock. Sheridan, Rivals, iii. 1. 
4. A dull object or recipient of action or notice, 
as of wonder, scorn, or laughter ; a butt : gen- 
erally the second element in a compound: as, a 
gazing-stock ; a laughing-stocit. 
Howsoever we are all accounted dull, and common Jest- 
ing stocks for your gallants, there are some of us do not 
deserve it. Beau, and Fl., Woman-Hater, iii. 8. 
Thou art the stock of men, and I admire thee. 
Fletcher, Rule a Wife, iii. 0. 
I know, and may presume her such, 
As, out of humour, will return no love ; 
And therefore might indifferently be made 
The courting-sfoc* for all to practise on. 
B. Jonson, New Inn, i. 1. 
5. The stalk, stem, or trunk of a tree or other 
plant ; the main body, or fixed and firm part. 
Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the 
stock thereof die in the ground. Job xiv. 8. 
There, in the stocks of trees, white faies do dwell. 
B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii. 2. 
You know him old, but full 
Of force and choler, and firm upon his feet, 
And like an oaken stock in winter woods. 
Tennyson, Golden Year. 
6. A stem in which a graft is inserted, and 
which is its support ; also, a stem, tree, or plant 
that furnishes slips or cuttings. 
You see, sweet maid, we marry 
A gentler scion to the wildest stock. 
Shak., W. T., iv. 4. 93. 
The scion ever over-ruleth the stock. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist., Ink to | 477. 
Hence 7. The original progenitor of a family 
or race ; the person from whom any given line 
of descent or inheritance is derived. See stock 
of descent, below. 
5955 
This flrste stok was fill of rightwisnesse, 
Irewe of his word, sobre, pitous, and fn-f. 
Chaucer, Oentilnesse, 1. 8. 
Brave soldier, yield, thou stock of amis and Imnmir. 
l''l>'lt-h<'i-, litttnluca, v. 5. 
8. Direct line of descent ; race; lineage; lain 
ily: as, children of the stock of Abraham. 
What things are these! I shall marry into a flue stock! 
Drome, Northern Lass, Ii. 2. 
In his actions and sentiments he belied not the stock t., 
which he pretended. /,,/,, TWO Races of Men. 
They sprang from different docks. They spoke differ 
ent languages. Macaulay, Hist. En K ., vi. 
9 The principal supporting or holding part : 
the part in which other parts are inserted, or 
to which they are attached in order to furnish :i 
firm support or hold. Specincally-(a) The wooden 
support to which the barrel and lock of a rifle or likH, " 
arm are attached, or upon which the bow of the crossbow is 
gated. See cuts under nun and gun-carriage, (b) The 
handle by which a borlng-blt is held and turned a bit- 
; J. brace. See cut under brace, (c) The block of 
wood which constitutes the body of a plane, and in which 
the cutting iron is fitted. See cuts under plane, rountlinn- 
plane, and router, (d) The support of the block on which 
an anvil is fitted, or of the anvil itself, (e) The crosspieci- 
of an anchor, perpendicular to the shank, formerly of wood 
when the shank was passed through a hole cut in the 
stock, or the latter was made in two parts joggled to re- 
ceivc the shank : now usually o f iron, in which case the 
stock slips through a hole made in the shank. See cut un- 
der anchor. (/) An adjustable wrench for holding screw- 
cutting dies, (g) That part of a plow to which the handles, 
irons, etc are attached. (A) A beater, as used in a fulling- 
mill, in the manufacture of chamois-leather, etc. () An 
f-TSrhi h Vel t ag f r S f a 8quare ' W) The wooden frame 
which the wheel and post of a spinning-wheel are sup- 
ported. 
10. A stiff band 
of horsehair, 
leather, or the 
like, covered 
with black sat- 
in, cambric, or 
similar materi- 
al, and made to 
imitate and re- 
place the cravat 
or neckband : 
formerly worn 
by men general- 
ly, and, in some 
forms, still in 
military use. It 
was sometimes 
fastened behind 
with a buckle, which was often an ornamental 
object. 
A shining stock of black leather supporting his chin. 
Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 321. 
He wore a magnificent stock, with a liberal kind of knot 
in the front ; in this he stuck a great pin. 
W. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 98. 
11. The front part, especially the front side- 
piece, of a bed. [Scotch.] 
I wiuna lie in your bed, 
Either at stock or wa'. 
Capt. Wedderburn's Courtship (Child's Ballads, VIII. 12). 
12. pi. An apparatus for the confinement of 
vagrants and petty offenders, formerly in -use 
in different parts of Europe, and retained until 
recently in country villages in England, itcon- 
sisted of two heavy timbers, one of which could be raised, 
Military Stock, igth century. 
/ t 
and when lowered was held in place by a padlock or the 
like ; notches in these timbers, forming round holes when 
the upper timber was shut down in place, held firmly the 
legs of those upon whom this punishment was inflicted ; 
in some cases a second row of openings could be used to re- 
tain the hands, and even the neck, also. Compare pillory. 
This yere was ordeyned in euery warde [of London] a 
peyr stoclcis. Arnold's Chronicle, p. xxxvi. 
Mars got drunk in the town, and broke his landlord's 
head, for which he sat in the stocks the whole evening. 
Steele, Tatler, No. 4. 
13. The frame or timbers on which a ship rests 
while building ; hence, generally, on the stocks, 
stock 
in course of construction or preparation. 
14f. That part of the- tally which the creditor 
took away as evidence of the king's debt, the 
part retained in the Exchequer being calh',1 
the miuitcrtitiM-k. See liilli/. 
It u:is the custom when money was borrowed for state 
purposes to record the transaction by means of notches UN 
n stick (commonly ha/L-1), and then to split the stick 
through the notches. The lender took one half as n IMM, ,i 
of his claim against the Exchequer, and it was callnt hi- 
.**. The Exchequer kept the other half, which was 
called the counterstock, and which answered the same 
purpose a was served in ftGr-ttniM liy the counterfoil 
Bithell, Counting-House Diet., p. 290. 
15. Injiiiuitcc: () The money represented by 
this tally; money lent to a government, in- a 
fund consisting of a capital debt due by a 
government to individual holders who receive 
a fixed rate of interest. In modern usage especially 
in Great Britain, the name is applied to a capital of which 
payment cannot be claimed, but on which interest is paid 
in perpetuity at a given rate ; hence, to buy stock is simply 
to buy the right to this interest on a certain amount of 
this capital debt a right which may be sold again. The 
various kinds of stocks are called the public funds. See 
fund\, n., 2. 
I have known a Captain rise to a Colonel in two days 
by the fall of xtuckx. 
Steele, quoted in Ashton's Reign of Queen Anne, II. 206. 
The term Stock was originally applied to the material 
sign and proof of money lent. But as the thing signified 
was of greater importance to both parties than the sign, 
it was at length transferred to the money itself or rather 
to the right to claim it. In this way Stock came to be 
understood as money lent to the government, and eventu- 
ally to any public body whatever. 
Bithell, Connting-House Diet., p. 290. 
(6) The share capital of a corporation or com- 
mercial company; the fund employed in the 
carrying on of some business or enterprise, di- 
vided into shares of equal amount, and owned 
by individuals who jointly form a corporation ; 
in the plural, shares: as, bank stock; railway 
stock; stocks and bonds. 16. The property 
which a merchant, a tradesman, or a company 
has invested in any business, including mer- 
chandise, money, and credits; more particu- 
larly, the goods which a merchant or a com- 
mercial house keeps on hand for the supply of 
customers. 
Who trades without a stock has naught to fear. Cibber. 
"We must renew our stock, Cousin Hepzibah '" cried 
the little saleswoman. "The gingerbread figures are all 
gone, and so are those Dutch wooden milkmaids and 
most of our other playthings. " 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, v. 
17. Fund; sum of money. 
Mr. lohn Whitson being Maior, with his brethren the 
Aldermen, and most of the Merchantsof the L'itie of Bris- 
tow, raised a stocke of 1000J. to furnish out two Barkes 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, I. 108. 
It 's proverbial He gave them an alms- penny, for which 
reason Judas carried the bag that had a common stock in 
it for the poor. Barnard, Heylin, 1 104. 
The money is raised out of the interest of a stock for- 
merly made up by the nobility and gentry. 
Butcher, quoted in Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 103. 
18. Hoard or accumulation; store; supply; 
fund which may be drawn upon as occasion 
demands: as, to lay in a stock of provisions; a 
stock of information. 
Though all my stock of tears were spent already 
Upon Pisano's loss. Shirley, Traitor, v. 1. 
He set up as a Surgeon upon his bare natural stock of 
knowledge, and his experience in Kibes. But then he 
had a very great stock of confidence withal, to help out 
the other. Dumpier, Voyages, L 388. 
A great slock of parliamentary knowledge. 
Miiniiilnti. Hist. Eng., vi. 
19t. Share; portion. 
Whilst we, like younger Brothers, get' at best 
But a small stock, and must work out the rest. 
Coidey, To Lord Falkland. 
Therefore nothing would satisfle him [a young prodigal] 
unless he were intrusted with theStock which was intended 
for him, that he might shew the difference between his 
Father's Conduct and his own. 
StiUingfleet, Sermons, III. i. 
20f. Ground; reason; evidence; proof. 
He pities our infirmities, and strikes off much of the 
account upon that stock. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 914. 
21. The part of a pack of cards which iu cer- 
tain games is not dealt out, but left on the 
table, to be drawn from as occasion requires. 
Nay, then, I must buy the stock, : send me good carding ! 
I hope the prince's hand be not in this sport. 
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, iv. 1. 
22. In agri. : (a) The horses, cattle, sheep, 
and other useful animals raised or kept on a 
farm or ranch: distinctively known as Wee 
stock : as, a farmer's land and stock. The term 
is extended to any animals, as fish or oysters, 
artificially propagated. 
