To take stock

Stock 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. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

2. The stem or branch in which a graft is inserted. [1913 Webster]

The scion overruleth the stock quite. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]

3. A block of wood; something fixed and solid; a pillar; a firm support; a post. [1913 Webster]

All our fathers worshiped stocks and stones. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

4. Hence, a person who is as dull and lifeless as a stock or post; one who has little sense. [1913 Webster]

Let's be no stoics, nor no stocks. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

5. The principal supporting part; the part in which others are inserted, or to which they are attached. Specifically: [1913 Webster] (a) The wood to which the barrel, lock, etc., of a rifle or like firearm are secured; also, a long, rectangular piece of wood, which is an important part of several forms of gun carriage. [1913 Webster] (b) The handle or contrivance by which bits are held in boring; a bitstock; a brace. [1913 Webster] (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. [1913 Webster] (d) (Naut.) The wooden or iron crosspiece to which the shank of an anchor is attached. See Illust. of {Anchor}. [1913 Webster] (e) The support of the block in which an anvil is fixed, or of the anvil itself. [1913 Webster] (f) A handle or wrench forming a holder for the dies for cutting screws; a diestock. [1913 Webster] (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.] [1913 Webster]

6. The original progenitor; also, the race or line of a family; the progenitor of a family and his direct descendants; lineage; family. [1913 Webster]

And stand betwixt them made, when, severally, All told their stock. --Chapman. [1913 Webster]

Thy mother was no goddess, nor thy stock From Dardanus. --Denham. [1913 Webster]

7. (Finance) 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}. [1913 Webster]

8. (Bookkeeping) Same as {Stock account}, below. [1913 Webster]

9. Supply provided; store; accumulation; especially, a merchant's or manufacturer's store of goods; as, to lay in a stock of provisions. [1913 Webster]

Add to that stock which justly we bestow. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

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}. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

I must buy the stock; send me good cardings. --Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster]

12. A thrust with a rapier; a stoccado. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

13. [Cf. {Stocking}.] A covering for the leg, or leg and foot; as, upper stocks (breeches); nether stocks (stockings). [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

With a linen stock on one leg. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

14. A kind of stiff, wide band or cravat for the neck; as, a silk stock. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

He shall rest in my stocks. --Piers Plowman. [1913 Webster]

16. pl. (Shipbuilding) The frame or timbers on which a ship rests while building. [1913 Webster]

17. pl. Red and gray bricks, used for the exterior of walls and the front of buildings. [Eng.] [1913 Webster]

18. (Bot.) Any cruciferous plant of the genus {Matthiola}; as, common stock ({Matthiola incana}) (see {Gilly-flower}); ten-weeks stock ({M. annua}). [1913 Webster]

19. (Geol.) An irregular metalliferous mass filling a large cavity in a rock formation, as a stock of lead ore deposited in limestone. [1913 Webster]

20. A race or variety in a species. [1913 Webster]

21. (Biol.) In tectology, an aggregate or colony of persons (see {Person}), as trees, chains of salp[ae], etc. [1913 Webster]

22. The beater of a fulling mill. --Knight. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

24. Raw material; that out of which something is manufactured; as, paper stock. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

25. (Soap Making) A plain soap which is made into toilet soap by adding perfumery, coloring matter, etc. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

{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.] [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Fund; capital; store; supply; accumulation; hoard; provision. [1913 Webster]