the stem, or main body, of a tree or plant; the fixed, strong, firm part; the trunk.-the stem or branch in which a graft is inserted.-a block of wood; something fixed and solid; a pillar; a firm support; a post.-hence, a person who is as dull and lifeless as a stock or post; one who has little sense.-the principal supporting part; the part in which others are inserted, or to which they are attached.-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.-the handle or contrivance by which bits are held in boring; a bitstock; a brace.-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.-the wooden or iron crosspiece to which the shank of an anchor is attached. see illust. of anchor.-the support of the block in which an anvil is fixed, or of the anvil itself.-a handle or wrench forming a holder for the dies for cutting screws; a diestock.-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.-the original progenitor; also, the race or line of a family; the progenitor of a family and his direct descendants; lineage; family.-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.-same as stock account, below.-supply provided; store; accumulation; especially, a merchant's or manufacturer's store of goods; as, to lay in a stock of provisions.-domestic animals or beasts collectively, used or raised on a farm; as, a stock of cattle or of sheep, etc.; -- called also live stock.-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.-a thrust with a rapier; a stoccado.-a covering for the leg, or leg and foot; as, upper stocks (breeches); nether stocks (stockings).-a kind of stiff, wide band or cravat for the neck; as, a silk stock.-a frame of timber, with holes in which the feet, or the feet and hands, of criminals were formerly confined by way of punishment.-the frame or timbers on which a ship rests while building.-red and gray bricks, used for the exterior of walls and the front of buildings.-any cruciferous plant of the genus matthiola; as, common stock (matthiola incana) (see gilly-flower); ten-weeks stock (m. annua).-an irregular metalliferous mass filling a large cavity in a rock formation, as a stock of lead ore deposited in limestone.-a race or variety in a species.-in tectology, an aggregate or colony of persons (see person), as trees, chains of salpae, etc.-the beater of a fulling mill.-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.-to lay up; to put aside for future use; to store, as merchandise, and the like.-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.-to suffer to retain milk for twenty-four hours or more previous to sale, as cows.-to put in the stocks.-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.