▪ I. store, n.
(stɔə(r))
Forms: 3–7 stor, 4 stoer, 4–5 stoor, 5 stour, stoher, 5–6 stoore, 6 stoare, stowre, Sc. stoire, stoyr, 9 dial. stoar, 6–7 stoir, 3– store.
[ME. stor, aphetic f. astore n., a. OF. estor (= Pr. estor, Anglo-L. staurum, instaurum) vbl. noun f. estorer: see store v. (The W. ystôr, Irish stór, Gael. stòr, are from English.)]
1. a. sing. (without indef. art.) That with which a household, camp, etc., is stored; food, clothing, and other necessaries, collected for future use. Now rare. † Also furniture (of a house or building).
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8138 So þat þe cristinemen adde þer þe maistrie & tresour founde & stor inou. 13.. Sir Beues 1295 Þe palmer nas nouȝt wiþouten store, Inouȝ a leide him be-fore Bred and flesc out of his male. 13.. Coer de L. 1656 They schyppys armes, man and stede, And stoor, her folk al with to fede. c 1330 Poem Evil Times Edw. II 387 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 341 For beof ne for bakoun, ne for swich stor of house. c 1400 Gamelyn 354 Who made the so bolde For to stroien my store of my housholde. c 1440 Jacob's Well 128 Whan þou seruaunt stelyst in house mete & drynke, henne or chekyn, or oþer stoor. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 1036 Bath breid and aylle, gud wyne and othir stor. 1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 10 §4 It shalbe lawfull to everye persone..to make coverlettes..for theyre owne use or store of theyre householdes. 1570 Levins Manip. 174/16 Store of house, supellex, res familiariæ. 1581–2 Wills & Inv. Durham (Surtees) III. 91 To my wife..my farmehold in Buckton, the tower with all things belonging, and all the store upon it. 1582 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 356 For the hire of three cartes to remove the store of the office to Wyndesor. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 322 Small store will serve, where store, All seasons, ripe for use hangs on the stalk. 1821 Shelley Hellas 556 The garrison of Patras Has store but for ten days. |
| fig. 1835 T. Mitchell Acharn. of Aristoph. Introd. p. viii, In the Iliad and Odyssey..the Spartans found..ample store for cultivating that love of genealogies and antiquities, which characterised them. |
† b. to keep, take to or for one's own store: to appropriate, take possession of.
Obs.| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2337 He..kepte her to his usage and his store. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 25 Þe earle..took þe mayde to his owne store [L. suis usibus puellam applicuit]. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 239 It is other mannes riht, Which he hath taken..To kepe for his oghne Stor. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 8563 Thys, the blyssyd saphyr trewe,..Kep hyt for thyn owne stoor, ffor yt saueth euery soor. |
c. collective pl. Articles (such as food, clothing, arms, etc.) serving for the equipment and maintenance of an army, a ship;
occas. of a household, etc.
Cf. marine stores.
| 1636 in Rymer Fœdera (1735) XX. 126 The King..granteth to John Wells, the Office of Clerk and Keeper of all his Majesty's Stores and Storehouses at Deptford Strond, Chatham, [etc.]. 1664 Act 16 Chas. II, c. 5 §4 Whereas diverse of his Majestyes Stores and Ammunition pertaining to his Navy and Shipping or Service thereof are imbezilled and filched away. 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 443 Ordnance and Stores sent by his Majesty's Order in Council, dated April 3, 1735. 1802 C. James Milit. Dict., Stores, Military, are provisions, forage, arms, clothing, ammunition, &c. 1845 Disraeli Sybil v. vi, Now dark streets of frippery and old stores, now market⁓places of entrails and carrion. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 324 Stores of a vessel, the ropes, sails, provisions and other outfit with which she is supplied. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 683 The docks were full of triremes and naval stores. 1889 Mrs. Haweis Art of Housekeeping 92 Hints for the Storeroom. It is better to give out stores daily than weekly, and weekly than monthly. |
† 2. Live stock. In later use chiefly in phrases
young store,
old store.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 2447 Bot fra þair store [v.rr. stor, stoor] bigan to sprede Þe pastur þam bigan to knede. c 1375 Ibid. 1517 (Fairf.) Iobal was his eldest sone stoer of fee he dalt wiþ. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 598 His lordes..swyn, his hors, his stoor, and his pultrye, Was hoolly in this Reues gouernyng. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 72 Grett herdus in the playnus Wyth muchelle tame store. 1530 Palsgr. 276/2 Store of horses, monture. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot., Cosmogr. Albion viii. (1821) I. p. xxxiii, Merchand with Cathnes lyis Sutherland, ane proffitable cuntre baith for store and cornis. 1538 Elyot Dict., Armentum, store of horse or nete. Ibid., Pecuaria, store of catell. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia i. (1895) 55 After farmes pluckyd downe, and husbandry decayed, ther is no man that passyth for the breadyng of yonge stoore [L. non sunt qui fœturam curent]. 1590 R. Payne Brief Descr. Ireland (1841) 13 Swine will not be full growen before they be two yeeres old: so the first yeere you can kill but your old store. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 49 Marr..rache in store and pastural. a 1688 J. Wallace Descr. Orkney ii. (1693) 16 Eagle[s] or Earns, and Gleds are here in plenty, and very harmfull to the young store. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 795 Four Heifars from his Female Store he took. |
† 3. A body of persons.
Obs.| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 847 And þaȝ vch day a store he feche, Among vus commez non oþer strot ne stryf. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xii. 457 Ye ar of the old store, It semys you, Iwys. 1563 A. Neville in B. Googe's Eglogs (Arb.) 23 By this alone The olde renowmed Stoore Of Auncient Poets lyue. |
4. a. Sufficient or abundant supply (
of something needful).
† Hence (more fully,
great store,
good store), abundance, large number or quantity (of something whether desirable or not).
Proverb,
store is no sore,
i.e. abundance does no harm.
| 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. xii. viii. in Ashm. (1652) 186 For wyse men done sey store ys no sore. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xiv. 59 Sic stoir of vyce, sa mony wittis vnwyce Within this land was nevir hard nor sene. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 202 He helped forwarde that good store of forfeites and fines were gathered into the kingis treasury. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 121 They [the Danes] armed more store of chosen souldiers and entred the River of Thamise with five & thirtie Saile. c 1572 Gascoigne Flowers Wks. 1907 I. 63 Store makes no sore. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. ii. 8 Ships..are pestred..with exceeding store of mice. 1598 Hakluyt Voy. I. 54 In certaine places thereof are some small store of trees growing, but otherwise it is altogether destitute of woods. 1612 Two Noble K. i. iii. 6 Store never hurtes good Gouernours. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 249 Hereabout are great store of Tarantulas: a serpent peculiar to this countrey. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxii. 79 Having first given orders to his Junks to shoot continually at the town..wheresoever they perceived any store of people assembled. 1659 Hammond Ps. xxxviii. Annot. 206 Applying the words to his streights in general, store of which it is certain he had. 1677 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 371 Great store of snow fell that day. 1705 tr. Bosman's Guinea 180 Plunder is their chief aim, instead of which they often get good store of blows. 1712 Motteux 2nd Pt. Quix. xliii. (1749) IV. 62 You can't eat your cake and have your cake; and store's no sore. 1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 44 This kind must have great store of food. 1844 Thackeray Box of Novels Wks. 1899 XIII. 415 Think of all we owe Mr. Dickens,..the store of happy hours that he has made us pass. 1853 M. Arnold Scholar Gypsy ix, Oft thou hast given them store Of flowers. |
† b. Plenty; abundance (of food or necessaries).
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 55 b, Y⊇ common people leaving theyr daily labor, toke such things as they neded of others y{supt} had store. 1590 Lodge Euphues Gold. Leg. B 4 b, Riches (Saladyne) is a great royalty, & there is no sweeter phisick than store. a 1642 Fuller etc. Abel Rediv., Grynaeus (1651) 536 Christ, as in life, so He in death is store. [= L. Christus ut in vita, sic quoque morte lucrum est.] 1711 Pope Temple Fame 450 Of loss and gain, of famine and of store. 1712 Swift Fable Midas 49 By starving in the Midst of Store, As t'other Midas did before. |
† c. in (great, good) store: in abundance.
Obs.| 1600 Fairfax Tasso vii. xxv, It was a fountaine from the liuing stone, That powred downe cleere streames, in noble store. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 137 There is no region or countrey in the world, where these are not bred in some store, as shall be declared afterwarde in the particular discourse of euery kind of Dogges. 1621 tr. Ir. Act 28 Hen. VI, c. 3 Whereas the theeues and euil doers encrease in great store. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 288 Goats are in good store here. |
d. Used
advb. or as postpositive or predicative
adj. = ‘in store’, in plenty, abundant(ly). Also
good store,
great store. Now
arch. and
dial.| 1569 Preston Cambises 858 (Manly) The poets wel, in places store, of my might doo expresse. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist., Evagr. v. xix. 500 Then there were captiues great store, and cheape inough. 1578 T. N. In Commend. Lyte's Dodoens, Till Rembert he, did sende additions store. a 1586 Sidney Ps. xxv. xi, Behold my foes, what stoare they be. 1604 E. G[rimstone] tr. Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xxii. 187 Peru doth surpasse it in one thing, which is wine, for that there growes store, and good. c 1610 Women Saints 24 And whereas no Saints want enuious enemies, as our Sauiour had store, and [etc.]. 1619 J. Taylor (Water P.) Kicksey Winsey B 5 b, Your stockes are poore, your Creditors are store, Which God increase, and decrease, I implore. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia v. 170 Numbers of Mulberies, wild Oliue-trees store. 1648 Milton Ps. lxxxviii. 9 For cloy'd with woes and trouble store Surcharg'd my Soul doth lie. 1650 B. Discolliminium 13 We shall have as many changes as my Mare hath paces, and she hath pretty store. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. 5 In..Bruges..are no more than seven Parish Churches but of Monasteries or Religious Houses..good store, 60 according to Golnitz. 1694 J. Clayton Acc. Virginia in Phil. Trans. XVIII. 125 Wolves there are great store. 1718 Pope Iliad ix. 62 Ships thou hast store. 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. i, The race of yore..Told our marvelling boyhood legends store, Of their strange ventures. 1830 James Darnley iv. I. 60 There might be seen the inimitable ham of York, with manifold sides of bacon,..and cheeses store. 1855 Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘He likes the situation good store,’ that is, very much. |
5. a. A person's collective possessions; accumulated goods or money.
† to gather to store: to hoard up money.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 6117 He gadred vn-to store fast, Þat hys purs he fylled at þe last. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 54 Shy. I am debating of my present store, And by the neere gesse of my memorie I cannot instantly raise vp the grosse Of full three thousand ducats. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xi. 226 Or if my store My wife had kept together. 1693 Dryden Persius vi. 183 Increase thy Wealth, and double all thy Store. 1700 ― Ovid's Met. viii. Baucis & Phil. 34 Though little was their Store, Inur'd to Want, their Poverty they bore. 1753 J. Collier Art Torment. ii. ii. 111 If you bring no fortune to your husband, you should be as insolent as if you had increased his store by thousands. 1779 J. Newton Olney Hymns ii. lviii. 252, I envy not the worldling's store, If Christ and heav'n are mine. |
b. transf. and
fig.| 1684 Dryden To Mem. Mr. Oldham 11 O early ripe! to thy abundant Store What could advancing Age have added more? 1697 ― Virg. Georg. iii. 482 The salacious Goat encreases more; And twice as largely yields her milky Store. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 59 For him light labour spread her wholesome store. |
† 6. a. Something precious; a treasure.
Obs. (see b).
| 1410 in 26 Pol. Poems ix. 181 And arraye ȝow wel þerfore To resceyue god, ȝoure soules store. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. 2114 It sitteth nat a womman lyue alone; It is no stor but þei haue more þan oon. c 1426 Abraham's Sacrif. 216 in Non-Cycle Myst. Plays (1909) 32 She was wont to calle me hir tresoure and hir store. |
b. In various phrases with the sense ‘to value, esteem, prize; make account of’:
† to tell, make, hold, set (great, little, no) store of (
obs.);
† to set at (much, little) store (
obs.);
to set (great, etc.) store by;
to † put, set (great, etc.) store upon.
| c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 203 And by my fey I tolde of it no stoor They had me yeuen hir gold and hir tresoor. c 1400 Beryn 4 For hem þat hold no store Of wisdom. 1413 in 26 Pol. Poems xii. 28, I wolde set hit at lytel store. c 1440 Lydg. Horse, Goose & Sheep 440 But here this sheepe..Set litill stoor of swerd or Arwis keene. c 1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 92 Bi me he settis no store. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. c. [xcvi.] 293 They wolde make no stoore of hym. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus i. i. D iv, If thou..set any store by thy helth. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius Q iii, If I shoulde make a little store of them, for whome I had done so muche [L. si, in quos tam magna contuleram, viliores mihi facerem]. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer iv. (1577) Y iv, Hee deserued not to haue anye more store made of him. 1569 T. Underdown Heliodorus iv. 59 And therefore I should lose that I sette moste stoare by. 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 159 They [the Jesuits] make no more store of a man or woman's life,..then they do of the death of a dogge or a mouse. 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 108 Those Medicines which will do the greatest Feats are least Store set by. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., Starling (1778) II. 36 The bird had little or no store set by him. 1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl (1813) III. 241 The precious metal, on which they set so high a store. 1860 Ruskin Unto this last iv. §61 Much store has been set for centuries upon the use of our English classical education. 1862 Latham Channel Isl. iii. xiv. (ed. 2) 331 Upon the Icelandic sagas many have put great store. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 2) I. App. 674 The reader will not be inclined to set much store by the authority of Osbern. 1895 Law Times XCIX. 546/2 Students..though they may attend classes..do not rely on or..set much store by them. 1908 J. B. Mayor in Expositor July 19 She sets more store by her own vow than by the promise of the Messiah. |
† c. to stand (a person) in store: to be valuable to.
Obs.| ? 1463 Paston Lett. (1904) IV. 65 It shuld stand me in gret stoher if it mygth be do closly and suerly. |
7. a. A stock (of anything material or immaterial) laid up for future use. Phrase,
to lay in a store.
| 1487–8 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 137 Beside this Ther is spente of your stoor, in lathes, xxiij c. 1573–80 Tusser Husb. (1878) 53 Thresh barlie thou shalt, for chapman to malt. Else thresh no more but for thy store. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xxxvii. 8 For whether beauty, birth, or wealth or wit,..Entitled in thy parts do crowned sit, I make my love engrafted to this store. 1725 Watts Logic (1736) 71 You..will obtain a rich Store of proper Thoughts and Arguments upon all Occasions. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VIII. 54 Their leaves must be gathered..and kept in a dry place, if it be necessary to lay in a store. 1808 Scott in Lockhart I. i. 45 My desk usually contained a store of most miscellaneous volumes. 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. xii, All day she sat working at a little store of caps and dresses for the expected stranger. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 407 The greater part of the nourishment to the seeds being furnished by the store laid up in the plant. 1845 James Arrah Neil ii, Whenever I have an opportunity I lay in a store in my own stomach for the journey. 1875 Manning Mission Holy Ghost Pref. p. ix, These united would make a precious store for students and for preachers. 1881 S. P. Thompson in Jrnl. Soc. Arts XXX. 31/2 A piece of coal represents a store of energy. So does a bag of hydrogen gas. So does a piece of zinc. |
† b. The stock of a tradesman; the tools, etc. of a workman.
Obs.| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. vi. §16 As if wee should iudge or construe of the store of some excellent Ieweller, by that only which is set out toward the streete in his Shoppe. 1615 E. S. Britain's Buss A 3, Thirdly, the particulars of her Carpenters store; and of her Stewards store. |
c. collect. pl. Stocks, reserves; often in immaterial sense, treasures, accumulated resources.
| 1520 Coventry Leet Bk. 674 A veu was takon by the said Maier and his brethern what stores of all Maner of Corne, and what nombre of people was then within the said Cite. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. vii. 76 Lavish Nature laughs, and strows her Stores around. 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece iv. i. (1715) 162 To fasten to some Part of their Body the most precious of all their Stores. 1699 T. Baker Refl. Learn. Pref. A 2 b, And then it must be done by reasons borrow'd from the Stores of Learning. 1748 Gray Alliance 14 Instruction on the growing Powers Of Nature idly lavishes her Stores. 1780 Mirror No. 80 An author, who..has added to the stores of natural history the following very curious facts. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 388 Then we beheld her turn an anxious look From trunks and chests, and fix it on her book..; And then once more, on all her stores, look round. 1854 Poultry Chron. II. 65 If they can climb these glorious hills,..lay in stores of health and fresh air [etc.]. |
8. a. Storage, reserve, keeping. Now somewhat
rare. Phr.
to keep (young animals) for store:
cf. 13 c and 9.
| 1487–8 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 135 Item, for mendyng of ij olde lockes with the keyes for stor. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 110 Certeine fruites..whiche they reserue for store as wee doo chestnuttes. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xi. 9 Let those whom Nature hath not made for store, Harsh featureless and rude, barrenly perish. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. v. vi, The vse of things is all, and not the Store. 1638 R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. III.) 3 Base wares get no value by Store. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 515 Sulphurous and Nitrous Foame..they reduc'd To blackest grain, and into store conveyd. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 185 Some esteem them the best Pigs to keep for Store that suck the foremost Teats. 1811 Regul. & Orders Army 26 It is their duty to control..the Issue, and Delivery into Store, of all Articles of Camp Equipage. 1859 Reeve Brittany 6 Two boxes of chemicals, one for use and the other for store. |
b. in store: in reserve, laid up for future use. Hence (of events or conditions in the future)
in store for: awaiting (a person).
| c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's Prol. 17 Youre termes, youre colours, and youre figures, Keepe hem in stoor, til so be that ye endite Heigh style. c 1421 in 26 Pol. Poems xix. 13 Man! is þe laft no loue in store? 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 124 Wheles in store Shodd iiij pair Bare xiiij pair. 1535 Coverdale Isa. xxxvii. 30 This yeare shalt thou eate that is kepte in stoare, & the next yeare soch as groweth of himself. 1550 Crowley Epigr. 712 For unlesse ye repent, God hath vengeaunce in store. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. x. 20 Then for her sonne..was young,..In her owne hand the crowne she kept in store, Till ryper yeares he raught. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xl. 255 They alwaies kept in store a pretext, either of Justice, or Religion, [etc.]. 1657 in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 61, I shall be confident that Heaven hath a perticuler blessing in store for mee and for my family. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §5, I have so many objections in store you are not to count much upon getting over one. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 306 note, It was determined..that a hundred and seventy thousand barrels of gunpowder should constantly be kept in store. 1857 Dickens Dorrit i. xxxv, What such surprise can be in store for me? 1874 Punch 25 Apr. 180/1 Better days are in store for men and husbands. 1913 J. Willcock Sir H. Vane iv. 56 Nothing but humiliation was in store for Vane. |
9. A sheep, steer, cow or pig acquired or kept for fattening. (From the attributive use 13 c., to which
quot. 1620 may belong.)
| 1620 Inv. Wm. Toller in Essex Rev. (1907) XVI. 206, 1 stor and a cowbullocke iijli xs. 1776 A. Young Tour Irel. (1780) I. 45 Pigs. Bought in stores in September, at 7 s. to 20 s. each. 1812 Examiner 7 Sept. 564/1 Fat stock rather cheaper, but stores, with the exception of pigs, still dearer. 1815 Hist. John Decastro IV. 15 Take my brother his rent..and you may set out in the morning to fetch the stores..it is my positive order that no goads be used. 1844 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. i. 74 The practice with regard to feeding pigs..is to put up early in the spring some strong stores of twelve-months old. 1874 Ranken Domin. Australia xiii. 233 They then, if ‘stores’, pass to the rich salt-bush country of Riverina. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xx, I have to meet a man about a largish lot of stores that we're dealing over. 1898 Morris Austral Eng., Store, a bullock, cow, or sheep bought to be fattened for the market. 1901 Scotsman 3 Apr. 7/3 Stores met a fair trade, and fat cattle brought satisfactory returns. 1911 Daily News 1 May 6 May is the month..when the paddock is alive with frolicsome little pigs, fast growing into ‘stores’ |
† 10. Means for storing, receptacles for storage.
| 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 123 Store for cranes & gynnes..ij chestes. |
11. a. A place where stores are kept, a warehouse; a storehouse. Also
fig.| 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 226 The golden Compasses, prepar'd In Gods Eternal store, to circumscribe This Universe. 1707 J. Logan in Penn & Logan Corr. (1872) II. 231 We are to have a good store there to put thy goods in. 1755 Johnson. 1828–32 Webster, Store, a storehouse; a magazine, a warehouse. Nothing can be more convenient than the stores on Central wharf in Boston. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 24 Aug. 5/1 The structure was used as a military hay and fodder store. 1911 Sir H. Craik Earl Clarendon xx. II. 159 Her naval stores and arsenals were equipped with careful industry. |
b. Computers.
= memory n. 2 d.
| 1837 C. Babbage in B. Randell Origins of Digital Computers (1973) 21 The Store may be considered as the place of deposit in which the numbers and quantities given by the conditions of the problem are originally placed, in which all the intermediate results are provisionally preserved, and in which at the termination all the required results are found. 1919 A. Macfarlane Lect. on Ten Brit. Physicists 80 Directive cards to transfer numbers from the store to the mill and from the mill to the store. 1948 Nature 8 May 712/1 The general ideas for a large automatic calculating machine are to be found in the designs of Charles Babbage for an ‘analytical engine’... It was to work by means of plungers passing through punched cards, and was to contain a ‘store’ for numbers... The main components of any digital computing machine were then described... There must be a store to hold numbers and instructions. 1948 Proc. R. Soc. A. CXCV. 283 Stores have been operated with thirty-two lines and with sixty-four lines, each line containing thirty-two digits; 12 in. diameter cathode-ray tubes were used. 1964 F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers iv. 59 To read a word out of the store we have to open a gate at the end, and this permits pulses to escape. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 191/1 The basic configuration of any computer consists of a store, a suitable input and output device, and a control mechanism. 1977 Sci. Amer. Sept. 130/1 In the context of electronics ‘memory’ (or, in British usage, ‘store’) usually refers to a device for storing digital information. |
12. A place where merchandise is kept for sale.
a. Chiefly
N. Amer. and elsewhere outside the
U.K. In early use, a shop on a large scale, and dealing in a great variety of articles (see
quot. 1808). Now, equivalent to the British use of
shop n. 2. Also in
phr. to keep, tend store.
The use of the word in this sense has not become common in the
U.K. except in
Comb., as
chain store,
department store (see under the first elements),
store detective (see sense 13 d below), in which it still refers to a large shop.
| 1740 Pennsylv. Gaz. 24 Apr. 4/2 At his store opposite the George in Arch Street. 1752 Ibid. 25 June 4/3 Where Mr. Samuel Burge kept store. 1757 Washington Lett. Writ. 1889 I. 490, I..beg the favor of you to choose me..as much thread as is necessary in Mr. Lewis' Store, if he has them. If not, in Mr. Jackson's. 1772 Boston Gaz. 23 Nov. (Thornton s.v. Tend) A person that can tend Store or wait on a private Gentleman. 1808 Ashe Trav. I. 40 It [Pittsburg] possesses upward of forty retail stores. Ibid. foot-n., The common name for the places of sale in America and the colonies; differing from shops in being generally larger, and always dealing in a vast variety of articles. 1836 C. P. Traill Backw. Canada 124 A store is..nothing better than what we should call..at home a ‘general shop’. 1839 W. Wakefield in N.Z. Jrnl. (1840) No. 9. 112 It partly belongs to Captain Mayhew, an American, who has a store on it. 1844 ‘Jon Slick’ High Life N. York I. 2 They told me that he kept store away down Pearl street. 1861 L. A. Meredith Over the Straits II. 41 Some tolerably good ‘stores’ (as we designate those colonial Shops-of-all-work). 1862 Times 1 Sept. 5/1 At one corner of the street was a little provision and drapery store kept by an old woman. a 1872 in Schele De Vere Americanisms 641 He wanted to write up books, to tend store, or do anything to make an honest living. 1875 W. McIlwraith Guide to Wigtownsh. 43 Here are two or three little grocery stores. 1880 Austral. Town & Country Jrnl. 14 Feb. 314/4 This great city (of the future) is yet unbuilt, except one public-house and a store, blacksmith's shop, and very small telegraph and post office. 1907 J. H. Patterson Man-Eaters of Tsavo i. 11 [Mombasa] has several excellent stores where almost anything, from a needle to an anchor, may readily be obtained. 1956 H. G. de Lisser Cup & Lip ii. 22 The shops—or stores, as they are invariably called in the West Indies—were open. 1975 Encounter Jan. 41/2 But for chrissake—that's ‘Christ's sake’ in American, chaps—has anybody ever gone away from a shop—meaning ‘store’, youse guys—empty-handed through ignorance of some one of these local variants? |
b. In Great Britain after about 1850, the word became current in the designation
co-operative store, denoting the shop in which a co-operative trading society exposes goods for sale (originally to its own members only, but later usually also to the outside public). Commonly in
pl. (‘The Stores’), applied
esp. to the establishment of any of the larger London co-operative societies, consisting of a number of departments, each dealing in a separate class of goods. In imitation of this use, the plural (‘―'s Stores’, ‘― & Co.'s Stores’) was often adopted as the designation of a trading establishment resembling ‘The Stores’ in extent and in multifariousness of business.
| 1852 [see co-operative a.]. 1865 Sat. Rev. 21 Jan. 79/2 The first development of the principle which obtained considerable results was the Co-operative Store. 1881 St. James's Mag. XL. 389 Ladies of highest rank and fashion struggling through crowds of ill-clad people at the Stores. 1889 Mrs. Haweis Art of Housekeeping 97 These materials are bought infinitely cheaper at the Stores, than at the chemists. Mod. I know nothing about local prices; I deal at the Stores. |
pl. const. as sing.| 1914 Times 28 Aug., The head of a great stores has explained to a representative of The Times some of the difficulties with which [etc.]. |
13. attrib. † a. with the sense ‘of the nature of store’, ‘hoarded up’.
Obs. rare.
| a 1626 Bacon Advt. Holy War Misc. Wks. (1629) 100 Of this Treasure, it is true, the Gold was Accumulate, and Store Treasure, for the most part. 1633 T. James Voy. 57 Wee made bags of our store shirts. |
b. Designating a receptacle, repository, depot or transport for stores or supplies, as
store-back,
store-bag,
store-barn,
store-box,
store-cage,
store-cask,
store-cellar,
store-chamber,
store-city,
store-closet,
store-cupboard,
store-drawer,
store-loft,
store-place,
store-pond,
store-shed,
store-shop,
store-tent,
store-tub,
store-vat;
store-boat,
store-craft,
store-sloop,
store-vessel, etc. Also
storehouse,
store-room.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 406 Discharging the purified spirit into the *store-back. |
| 1730 J. Southall Treat. Buggs 10, I open'd my *Store-Bags, took out one Piece of Beef, some Biscuits and a Bottle of Beer. |
| 1926 D. H. Lawrence David xii. 87 And she shall have her handmaidens about her, and her *store-barns of wool. |
| 1797 State Papers & Publick Documents U.S. (1815) II. 436 On the 21st of January, the ice began to give way, and their *store-boat arriving on the 28th, they proceeded on the 31st for the Natchez. 1822 J. Woods Two Yrs.' Resid. Illinois 87 The master of the store-boat..had freighted his boat with store-goods and fruit. 1898 Daily News 26 Aug. 5/2 These store-boats will be towed by the British gunboats to every camp which we form near the Nile. 1944 T. D. Clark Pills, Petticoats, & Plows 25 In the Louisiana sugar belt, barge store boats eased along the back ways of sugar plantations receiving stolen goods. |
| 1826 G. Samouelle Direct. Collect. Insects & Crust. 68 *Store Boxes. |
| 1677 N. Cox Gentl. Recr. iii. 60 If you would know whether your Canary-bird be in health before you purchase him, take him out of the *Store-cage, and put him in a clean Cage alone. |
| 1773 Gentl. Mag. XLIII. 515 Two men..attempting to go down a ladder into a large *store-cask, in order to clean it, were immediately suffocated. |
| 1656 Act Commw. c. 19 (1658) 453 The..Store-houses, Ware-houses, *Store-cellars..of every Vintner or Retailer. |
| 1624 in Archæologia XLVIII. 148 In the *Storechamber. |
| 1611 Bible 2 Chron. viii. 6 All the *store-cities [1 Kings ix. 19 cities of store] that Solomon had, and all the charet-cities. |
| 1825 T. Hook Passion & Princ. v, The..key of the *store-closet. |
| 1796 W. Vaughan Exam. 7 Coal-barges..converted into floating *store-craft, in order to save the expense of wharfage. |
| 1841 C. Fox Jrnl. 5 May in Mem. Old Friends (1882) vii. 123 We went all over his comfortable house..choosing papers, positions of *store cupboards, and other important arrangements. 1903 Kath. Tynan Hon. Molly xxix. 308 The store-cupboard, the linen-closet, the china-closet. |
| 1865 Ruskin Sesame i. §36 One of the newspaper paragraphs which I am in the habit of cutting out and throwing into my *store-drawer. |
| 1612 in Antiquary (1906) XLII. 29/1 Imprimis in the *Store lofte foure iron wedgs..and other olde iron and lumber. 1852 W. Hanna Mem. Dr. Chalmers IV. 401 An old deserted tannery whose upper storeloft, approached from without by a flight of projecting wooden stairs, was selected. |
| 1507 Reg. Privy Seal Scot. I. 223/1 Al and sindri his and tharis landis,..stedynnis, *store placis, grangis, [etc.]. 1879 Ld. Coleridge in E. H. Coleridge Life & Corr. (1904) II. 238 To treat it [a chapel] as a store-place for tools and ladders. |
| 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4453/3 Large *Store-ponds, and Sun-ponds for making of Brine. |
| 1879 Castle Law of Rating 76 They were rateable for a *store-shed. |
| 1888 C. M. Yonge Our New Mistress xii. 109, I went into one of those great *store shops where they sell all sorts of things. 1972 E. White in W. King Black Short Story Anthol. 366 Jill..passes the store-shops of the Jews. |
| 1776 Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad Introd. p. xl, Here the *store-sloop, now of no farther service, was burnt by order of the admiral. |
| 1870 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 592 A *store-tent where most of the Iron Barkers bought their groceries. |
| 1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. IV. 127 The paint..is conveyed into *store-tubs. |
| 1826 Vintner's, Brewer's etc. Guide 122 *Store vats..for keeping beer till wanted for sale. |
| 1791 Smeaton Edystone L. §85 To moor a *store-vessel in the neighbourhood of the rocks. |
c. Designating animals kept for breeding or as part of the ordinary stock of a farm; also animals bought lean to be fattened; as
store beast,
store bullock,
store cattle,
store cow,
store pig,
store sheep,
store sow,
store stock,
store swine;
store-farm, a farm on which cattle are reared, a stock farm; also
store-farmer,
store-farming,
store-master.
| 1602 Inv. in Collect. Archæol. (1863) II. 111 One sow and ij store pigges. 1681 J. Flavel Meth. Grace xi. 245 'Tis better like store-cattle to be kept lean and hungry, than with the fatted ox to tumble in flowery meadows. 1683 Lond. Gaz. No. 1872/4 Ten Scotch Store-Bullocks. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 353 If they are eat off with Store⁓sheep. 1764 in Morison's Dict. Decis. (1806) XXXIII. 14512 The said William Porteous, and others, store-masters and tenants in the parishes of Lesmahago, [etc.]. 1772 Ann. Reg. 110/1 The mortality has been as great in most of the other store-farms. 1787 Winter Syst. Husb. 227 Stale meat..should be cleared out, and given to store swine. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Apr. 220 The sheep-graziers or store masters, who occupy much of the higher parts of the country. 1808 Forsyth Beauties Scot. V. 271 The store-farmer, who rears the sheep. 1815 Hist. John Decastro IV. 15 A journey of forty miles to bring home a lot of store beasts to take place of the fat lot which had been just sold. 1822 W. J. Napier (title), A Treatise on Practical Store-Farming. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words, Store, applied to a domestic animal, especially to a sow, means one kept for breeding. ‘A store sow.’ 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 71 The store-sheep in Scotland—that is, the ewe-hoggs—are always fed as fully as the wether-hoggs which are intended to be fattened. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Store-master, the tenant of a store farm, that is, a sheep walk in Scotland. 1885 Mrs. C. Praed Head Stat. xvii. I. 283 Oh, we are not fit for anything but store-cattle: we are all blady grass and brigalow scrub. 1901 Scotsman 3 Apr. 7/3, 191 fat cattle, 486 store cattle, 76 fat sheep, 120 store sheep. |
d. Chiefly
N. Amer. and elsewhere outside the
U.K. In sense ‘of or belonging to a store or shop’, as
store-book,
store-boy,
store buyer,
store detective,
store-girl,
store porch,
store-rent; ‘purchased or purchasable at a store’, as
store boots,
store cheese,
store clothes,
store goods,
store pants,
store shirts,
store sugar,
store tea,
store teeth;
store church: see
quot. 1948;
= storefront church;
store pay (see
quot. 1848). Also
storekeeper.
| 1741 P. Tailfer etc. Narr. Georgia 29 And we may safely affirm (and appeal to the Store-Books for the Truth of it) that [etc.]. |
| 1876 Besant & Rice Golden Butterfly xxxi, A stove⁓pipe hat, store boots, and go-to-meetin' coat. |
| 1840 Maury in Mrs. Corbin Life (1888) 33 A shop-boy, or as we say in the West, a store-boy. |
| 1965 Harper's Bazaar Feb. 21/3 The entirely new role of the store buyer. 1980 Times 12 Aug. 8/4 Store buyers..still come to Paris, but..to see the ready-to-wear. 1982 Times 3 Aug. 6/1 This week, there weren't any store buyers. |
| 1863 P. S. Davis Young Parson 61 One plate of ‘store cheese’, and a half a bread-basket of ginger crackers. 1894 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. XIV. 25 A full cream store cheese is run through a grinder. |
| 1948 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. x. 591 A store-church is one set up in a vacant store or in the front room of a dwelling house. 1961 C. Himes Black on Black (1973) 60 She hid in Rev'end Sinner's store church when she run away. |
| 1840 Knickerbocker XVI. 262, I felt an awe of young ladies in ‘store clothes’. 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 453 Store clothes, store goods, clothing or other articles purchased at a store, as opposed to those which are home made. 1872 [see boiled shirt s.v. boiled ppl. a. 2]. 1944 B. Johnson As much as I Dare 294 These young men did not want to give up their store clothes. |
| 1907 St. Nicholas Oct. 1106/2 He wondered how the store detectives worked to find a man who might be picking pockets in a great crowd. 1968 J. Lock Lady Policeman xix. 157 They had been detained by the store detective. 1979 R. Rendell Make Death love Me vi. 59 A woman had grabbed him and he'd only just escaped the store detective. |
| 1822 J. Woods Two Yrs'. Resid. Illinois 75 There were twelve tons of store-goods [on board]. |
| 1891 ‘O. Thanet’ Otto the Knight 4 Thar, store pants an' gallowses! Make haste an' putt 'em on! 1932 Atlantic Monthly Apr. 475/1 Steve-john..was..a bronze perfection—Celini's ‘Perseus’ in store pants. 1942 W. Stegner Mormon Country 126 Smart alecs had money to jingle in their store pants. |
| 1842 R. H. Bonnycastle Canada & Canadians II. 180 A quintal of fish..is worth 12s. 6d. in hard cash, or 14s. 6d. store pay. 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer. App. 411 Store pay, payment made for produce or other articles purchased, by goods from a store, instead of cash. 1891 S. M. Welch Recoll. Buffalo 1830–40 353 The workmen were to receive..only half cash, the remainder in trade—store pay, i.e.: in orders on the employers or other stores for such goods as they needed. 1905 J. S. Carter Story of Dundas 51 The store-keeper bought the settlers' produce but would give them only trade in return, or what was known as ‘store pay’. |
| 1934 C. M. Wilson Backwoods Amer. ii. 16 Hired boys are among the most cherished perpetrators of store-porch mirth. 1949 B. A. Botkin Treas. S. Folklore p. xix, The rural south is a land of the out-of-doors come up to the door and even indoors, where the ‘gallery’, the store-porch, the kitchen..are made for story-telling. |
| 1800 Publ. Acts U.S. 6th Congr. i. c. 57 §1 The expense of the navy store at Philadelphia, comprising storekeeper's salary, clerk hire, store rent [etc.]. |
| 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 206 Store-sugar, or sugar made from the cane. |
| 1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase I. ix. 64 'Tisn't nun of your spice-wood or yarb stuff, but the rale, gineine store tea. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 395 It was soon discovered that store-tea was all over the interior of the country the name for genuine tea. |
| 1878 Brooklyn Monthly June 185/1 It occurred to me that a brief description of the sensations experienced might be of interest to any of my readers who are contemplating a new set of ‘store teeth’. 1891 Century Dict. s.v., Store teeth (humorously used for false teeth). 1951 C. Lynch-Robinson Last of Irish R.M.s vi. 113 When I first got my new ‘store teeth’ in, they worried me. 1975 Budget (Sugarcreek, Ohio) 20 Mar. 8/6 Mrs. Gintz is a sister to O. K. Brown, the dentist that pulled my last teeth, and made me some store teeth. |
e. Pertaining to ‘the Stores’ (see 12 b), as
store price.
| 1889 Mrs. Haweis Art Housekeeping 115 The calculation is based on the prices of the best London tradesmen [etc.]... West-end dairyman, fruiterer, greengrocer, and fishmonger; baker and grocer (Store prices). |
14. In
Comb. with
adjs. or
ppl. adjs., as
store-bought, bought (often ready-made) from a store; also
fig.; also
store-boughten U.S.;
store-wide, operating or applying throughout the whole of a store.
| 1952 J. Steinbeck East of Eden xvi. 181 Would you say they were made clothes or store bought? 1953 Manch. Guardian Weekly 1 Oct. 2 She swayed like a riven oak over her failure to compete with ‘powder and store-bought hair’. 1962 Times 4 May 9/6 It has become ‘common sense’ to substitute a store-bought, ready-made universe for the disquieting uniqueness of actuality. 1970 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 22 Nov. 5/1 Those home-garden farmers aimed for near total independence from store-bought produce. 1981 Farmstead Mag. Winter 63/2 Pickled mushrooms..bring an outrageous price, in delicatessen shops, if you can find them and the storebought ones don't taste nearly as good as those pickled at home. |
| 1883 Zeigler & Grosscup Alleghanies 91 Two good-natured-looking young men dressed in..‘store-boughten’ coats, and homespun pantaloons. 1933 L. I. Wilder Farmer Boy viii. 54 Clothes..made of store-boughten cloth, woven by machines. 1974 M. Laurence Diviners ii. 29 Storeboughten cookies are looked down on. |
| 1938 Sun (Baltimore) 8 Sept. 3/1 A union demand for..a store-wide seniority plan. 1979 Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 3 Oct. 10/a (Advt.), Tremendous storewide savings. |
▪ II. store, v. (
stɔə(r))
Forms: 4
stoore, 6
stoare, 7
Sc. stoir,
stor, 3–
store;
pa. pple. 3–4
istored, 4–5
ystored,
-id.
[Aphetic var. of astore v., a. OF. estore-r to build, establish, furnish, stock, fortify, restore:—L. instaurāre, whence instauration. Cf. enstore, instore vbs. Sense 4 is prob. a new formation on store n.] 1. a. trans. To furnish, supply, stock (a person, place, etc.)
with something.
| 1264 Pol. Songs (Camden) 70 The Kyng of Alemaigne..Brohte from Alemayne mony sori gost to store Wyndesore. c 1275 Lay. 13412 Alle þine castles ich habbe wel istored. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 160 Isaac did it store, to hold for tuo ȝere. c 1386 Chaucer Shipman's T. 273 Certein beestes þat I moste beye To stoore with a place þat is oures. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1788 He tellit before þat an egle suld him store. 1530 Palsgr. 737/2 I have storyd my parkes and my pondes. 1586 J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 226 That noble familie..stored the crowne of England, well nigh the space of foure hundreth yeares. a 1595 Southwell St. Peter's Compl. (1602) 15 Sweet volumes stoard with learning fit for Saints. 1595 Shakes. John v. iv. 1, I did not thinke the King so stor'd with friends. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Wilts 155 After he had stored himself with home-bred Learning. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton vi. (1840) 99 We stored ourselves..with flesh and roots. 1722 N. Blundell Diary (1895) 187, I sent two Doz. yong Pigeons to Mr. Plumbe to Store his Dove-Coat. 1837–40 W. Irving Wolfert's R., Mountjoy (1855) 69 These studies..store a man's mind with valuable facts. 1857 Livingstone Trav. Introd. 2 His memory was stored with a never-ending stock of stories. a 1883 J. Russell Remin. Yarrow iv. (1894) 84 Most of the lakes are stored with pike, perch, eels, and trout. |
| absol. (for refl.) 1803 Naval Chron. IX. 494 The Prevoyante..is storing at this port. |
† b. const. of.
Obs.| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xix. 207 No Cytee of the World is so wel stored of Schippes, as is that. 1422 Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. xiii. 142 Bethynke the that thow be well y-storid of whete and of corne. 1511 Guylforde's Pilgr. (Camden) 59 Where some of vs went a londe..to store vs of newe vytaylles. 1633 C. Farewell East-Ind. Colation 41 Theyr Wives and Concubines (whereof they are stored according to theyr states). 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes 19 The Leeward Ilands,..of which the Bay of Merixo [read Mexico] is well stor'd. |
† c. To dose
with (drugs or medicines).
Obs.| 1722 De Foe Hist. Plague (1754) 36 Storeing themselves with such Multitudes of Pills, Potions, and Preservatives,..that they..even poison'd themselves before-hand. |
2. a. To reinforce, provide for the continuance or improvement of (a stock, race, breed).
Obs. exc. Sc. dial. in
to store the kin: see
quot. 1866.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 2940 [Lot's daughter speaks], I think man-kind sal perist be, Bot it be stord wit me and þe. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 626 The sheepe of Spaine were of no reckoning til they were stored with the breed of England. 1866 Gregor Banffsh. Gloss., Store the kin, to live; very often used, with a negative, of a person to appearance dying; as, ‘He's unco ill; a doot he winna store the kin lang’. 1909 C. Murray Hamewith 90 Content gin mony towmonds still we're left to store the kin. |
† b. To produce as offspring; also, to breed, rear (young animals).
Obs.| 1611 Heywood Golden Age iv. i. H 2, Or shall a stranger beare you to your tombe, When from your owne blood you may store a Prince To do those sacred rights. 1629 Orkney Witch Trial in County Folk-Lore (1903) III. 80 He..storit never ane calff of fyftene ky be the space of thrie yeirs. |
† 3. To restore (what is ruined or weakened).
Obs.| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 189 Harald..stored Herford, and closid it with kesting up of a diche [Herefordiam instaurans vallo cingit]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 727 [She] Storet thee to strenght & þi stythe londes. 14.. Guy Warw. (Cambr. MS.) 3842 And thorowowt my londe fare And store ageyne, þat lorne was are. |
4. a. To keep in store for future use; to collect and keep in reserve; to form a store, stock or supply of; to accumulate, hoard.
| 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. iii. 40, I haue fiue hundred Crownes..Which I did store to be my foster Nurse. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 120 How many seedes the sleepy poppy stores. 1671 Milton Samson 395 My capital secret, in what part my strength Lay stor'd. 1791 Cowper Iliad iv. 165 Safe stored it lies, By many a Chief desired. 1820 Keats Eve St. Agnes xx, All cates and dainties shall be stored there. 1842 Tennyson Dora 50 But Dora stored what little she could save, And sent it them by stealth. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. (1892) I. viii. 270 The vast accumulation of incoherent facts..stored in a capacious memory. 1881 S. P. Thompson in Jrnl. Soc. Arts XXX. 30/2 In the electric accumulator, by which we want to store electric currents, we use a chemical storage. Ibid. 32/1 In an ounce of gunpowder is stored about 10,000 foot-pounds of energy. 1893 D. J. Rankin Zambesi Basin xiv. 241 The drink [thus made] is consumed immediately after its manufacture, and is never stored. |
| fig. 1842 Tennyson Ulysses 29 And vile it were For some three suns to store and hoard myself. |
| absol. 1906 M. Sellers Eastland Co. (Camden) Introd. 58 When there was a glut they stored; when there was a scarcity they threw goods into the market. |
b. With
up,
away,
† in.
| 1552 Huloet, Store vp, repono. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtier i. (1577) F iij b, The true glory, that is stored vppe in the holy treasure of letters. 1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. i. 111 Many receits he gaue me, chieflie one, Which..He bad me store vp, as a triple eye, Safer then mine owne two. 1718 Free-thinker No. 89. 237 Their Memory increases by daily storing up a Variety of Knowledge. 1770 G. White Selborne, To Pennant 22 Feb., I never could find that they stored in any winter provision, as some quadrupeds certainly do. 1866 Sci. Rev. Sept. 96/2 This curious property of acetate of soda enables us, by means of it, to store up and recover solar heat at pleasure. 1879 Lubbock Sci. Lect. i. 10 She [a bee]..goes back to the hive, stores away her honey, and returns..for another supply. 1881 S. P. Thompson in Nature 2 June 106/1 The currents stored up in the secondary battery are however not stored up as accumulations of electricity. 1912 J. S. M. Ward Brasses xv. 103 He stored them away and forgot all about them. |
c. spec. To deposit (goods, furniture, etc.) in a store or warehouse for temporary preservation or safe-keeping.
| 1899 Grocery 15 May 125/3 [He] exhibited some California Newtown pippins, which had been stored since last December, as an instance of what cold storage could do. Mod. I shall store my furniture and spend a year in travelling. |
d. Computers. To retain a physical representation of (data or instructions) that enables them to be subsequently retrieved.
| 1909 Sci. Proc. R. Dublin Soc. XII. 78 An Analytical Machine must have some means of storing the numerical data of the problem to be solved. 1937 H. H. Aiken in IEEE Spectrum (1964) Aug. 69 It is necessary that numbers may be removed from the calculating units and temporarily stored in storage positions. 1945 J. von Neumann in B. Randell Origins Digital Computers (1973) 356 A distinction must be made between the specific instructions given for and defining a particular problem, and the general control organs which see to it that these instructions..are carried out. The former must be stored in some way. 1948 Nature 8 May 712/2 In all these machines there is provision for storing numbers, say in the scale of 2, in certain places. 1964 F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers ix. 144 Inside a computer, alphabetical characters and numerals are both stored as numbers. 1972 D. Lewin Theory & Design Digital Computers vi. 184 The speed of computers is limited by the time required to store and retrieve information. |
e. Computers. To transfer
into a store or storage location.
| 1964 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. CXV. 654 The speed of the computer is fixed by the length of time required to read information from or store information into one of the 1,024..12-bit memory locations. 1973 C. W. Gear Introd. Computer Sci. ii. 37 The CPU can be told to load a number into its accumulator from a specific cell in the memory..or to store a number from the accumulator into memory. |
5. Of a receptacle: To hold, keep, contain, have storage-accommodation for.
| 1911 Concise Oxf. Dict. s.v., A single cell can store 2000000 foot-pounds of energy. |
6. Comb.:
store-and-forward Telecommunications, used
attrib. with reference to a data network in which messages are routed to one or more intermediate stations where they may be stored before being forwarded to their destinations.
| 1963 On Line Data Processing (Inst. Electr. & Electronics Engineers) 63 The store and forward switching system must interconnect with line switching facilities. 1980 R. L. Freeman Telecommunication Syst. Engin. ix. 429 The ARPANet connects dispersed computers of various manufacture and varying design. The subnet providing that connection is a form of store and forward system and must deal with such problems as routing, buffering, synchronization, [etc.]. |
Hence
ˈstoring vbl. n. (also
attrib.) and
ppl. a.| 1494–5 Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 214 Item, for storyng of the bemelight & canstikes..ij s j d. 1573–80 Tusser Husb. (1878) 35 No storing of pasture with baggedglie tit. a 1586 Sidney Ps. iv. vi, Whose store..Of grain and wine fills stoaring place. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 324 Save what by frugal storing firmness gains To nourish. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 98 a The gathering together and storing up the fruits of the harvest. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 13 Sept. 9/1 The lofts over the stable were used as a storing place for hay and straw. 1901 Scotsman 3 Apr. 7/4 There was a moderate show of storing cattle. 1907 A. C. Benson Altar Fire 150 What would be idleness in another is for him a storing of forces. |
▪ III. store see
stir v.,
story,
stour,
stower n.1