▪ I. stocking, n.
(ˈstɒkɪŋ)
Also 6–8 stockin, 7 stocken, (6 stokyng).
[f. stock v.1 (sense 3) + -ing1.]
1. a. A close-fitting garment covering the foot, the leg, and often the knee, usually made of knitted or woven wool, silk, or cotton; now spec. as a woman's usu. diaphanous leg-covering (esp. of silk or nylon) reaching to the thigh. Chiefly pl.
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 39 Othersome buy cloakes,..caps, coates, stockings, and the like. 1586 Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 76 Mony for a p{supr} of stokyngs. 1593 Knaresb. Wills (Surtees) I. 195 My best under stockinges. 1603 [see jersey1 1]. 1607 E. H. Stow's Chron. 477 This yeare 1589 was diuised and perfected the Art of knitting or weauing of silke stockings,..and diuerse other things by engines or steele Loomes by William Lee. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. iii. 30 Renouncing cleane The faith they haue in Tennis and tall Stockings, Short blistred Breeches. 1648 Sir J. Turner Mem. (Bannatyne Club) 59 Riseing nixt morning, I misd one linnen stockine, one halfe silke one and one boothose, the accoustrement under a boote for one leg. 1697 Lond. Gaz. No. 3269/4 [Stolen] out of a Bag, half a dozen pair of Roll Stockins, and 18 pair of short Stockins. 1785 Burns 1st Epist. J. Lapraik ii, On Fasteneen we had a rockin, To ca' the crack and weave our stockin. 1812 2nd Rep. Comm. Framework-Knitters 93 Socks..are half-stockings, or rather what is called pantaloon stockings. 1902 E. Banks Newspaper Girl 78, I hurriedly pulled on my stockings, buttoned my boots,..and started out. |
| Proverbial, etc. 1695 Congreve Love for Love ii. i, Nurse. Pray Heav'n send your Worship good Luck..for you have put on one Stocking with the wrong side outward. 1739 Byrom Jrnl. & Lit. Rem. (1856) II. i. 223 The chief fault it had was that of King Stephen's stockings, the costing too little price. |
† b. ? A kind of legging or long boot, a ‘boot-hose’ or ‘boot-stocking’.
Obs.| 1676 Wood Life 21 Apr. (O.H.S.) II. 344 To Mr. Prince for a pair of riding leather stockings, 5s. |
2. A stocking used
a. as a purse or receptacle for storing one's money; hence, a store of money; also with qualifying word, as
big stocking,
fat stocking,
long stocking.
| 1873 A. G. Murdoch Lilts on Doric Lyre 90 (E.D.D.) He wi' him had brocht A stocking weel padded wi' siller. 1876 S. R. Whitehead Daft Davie iii. 57 She had a ‘stocking’ gathered to meet the wants of an evil day. 1899 G. Ford 'Postle Farm xxxvii. 192 Granfer's got money laid by in a stockin' up the chimney. 1903 Farmer Slang s.v., Long-stocking (common), means in plenty; resources. |
b. as a receptacle for the presents supposed by children to be deposited in it by ‘Father Christmas’ (or, in
U.S., by Santa Claus) on Christmas eve.
| 1853 Susan & Anna B. Warner Christmas Stocking (1854) 3 Little Carl always hung up his stocking, and generally had it filled. 1883 Harper's Mag. Dec. 15/2 The saint who generously filled the Christmas stocking. |
3. a. A surgical appliance resembling a stocking.
elastic stocking, a covering of elastic webbing worn as a remedial support for the leg,
esp. when affected with varicose veins.
b. A bandage for the leg of a horse.
| [1676 Wiseman Chirurg. Treat. ii. ii. 170 In stead of a Rowler I put on a laced Stocking.] 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Stocking{ddd}(Farriery.) A device for remedying injuries to the tendons, varicose veins, etc., occurring in the lower part of a horse's leg. 1884 T. Bryant Surg. I. 566 When exercise is allowed, steady pressure by a well-applied bandage..should be maintained, or an elastic stocking worn. 1894 [implied in stockinged]. |
4. transf. Applied to the surface or coat of the leg (or the lower part of it) of a bird or beast, when of different colour from the body.
| 1821 Scott Kenilw. xl, ‘And what didst thou learn there, forward imp?’ ‘To catch gulls, with their webbed feet and yellow stockings,’ said the boy. 1856 H. H. Dixon Post & Paddock ii. 37 He was a very handsome rich bay, with a white stocking on his off hind leg. 1879 L. Wright Pigeon Keeper 124 The Beard [kind of pigeon] is usually only white at the ends of the thighs, or the ‘stockings’. 1893 R. Lydekker Horns & Hoofs 11 The absence of white ‘stockings’ as a distinctive feature of most of our domestic breeds [of cattle]. 1908 Animal Management (Vet. Departm., War Office) 33 When the white hair extends just above the fetlock it is sometimes called a sock, and when much higher a stocking or leg. |
5. Phrases.
a. to stand (a specified height) in one's stockings,
i.e. without one's shoes.
Cf. stocking-foot c.
| 1855 Smedley H. Coverdale i, Harry Coverdale stood six feet one in or out of his stockings. 1883 Harper's Mag. Dec. 166/1 He stands over seven feet in his stockings. |
b. to throw the stocking: said with reference to an old custom according to which on the wedding night the bride's stocking was thrown among the guests; it was supposed that the person hit by it would be the first of the company to be married.
For other forms of this custom see
Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v.| 1694 N. H. Ladies Dict. 509/1 The Stockin being motioned, the Bride must sit up to have it thrown at her Nose, that the Batchellours may know by him that first hits it, who is to be marryed next. 1709 [W. King] Usef. Trans. Philos. Mar. & Apr. 12 The Sack-Posset was eaten and the Stocking thrown. 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. i. i. 148 At am'rous Flavio is the stocking thrown? a 1833 Anderson Cumbld. Ball. (1904) 126 What! breyde forgat flingin the stokin. a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg. iii. Wedding Day, They all come..To dance at her bridal, and help ‘throw the stocking’,—A practice that's now discontinued as shocking. |
6. = stocking web (see 7 b).
| 1812 Rep. Committee Framework Knitters Petit. 18 There are goods made up into a large piece of stocking, and cut out, instead of being properly shaped on the stocking frame. |
7. attrib. and
Comb.:
a. simple
attrib., as
stocking-heel,
stocking-manufactory,
stocking-manufacture,
stocking thread,
stocking-trade.
| 1888 Kipling Story of Gadsbys 1 (stage direction), Spreads *stocking-heel on open hand for inspection. 1891 Hardy Tess vii, I declare there's a hole in my stocking-heel! |
| 1812 1st Rep. Comm. Framework-Knitters App. 48 Are you acquainted with the *stocking manufactory in general? |
| 1765 Par. Reg. Calverton in Felton Hist. Machine-wrought Hosiery (1867) 30 The *Stocking manufacture very bad last year and this. |
| 1833 J. Rennie Alph. Angling 37 These water blood-worms..are not much thicker than a *stocking thread. |
| 1819 Rep. Sel. Comm. Framework-Knitters 10 The number now employed in the *stocking trade in Leicester. |
b. quasi-adj. with the meaning ‘made with the stocking-stitch, knitted, made of stockinet’, as
stocking cloth,
stocking material,
stocking night-cap,
stocking-piece,
stocking stuff,
stocking-web;
stocking-net (rarely
† knit; also
attrib.), see
quot. 1884 and
cf. stockinet.
| 1880 Cassell's Family Mag. VI. 311/1 Bège tricot, woven as closely as possible to resemble *stocking-cloth. |
| 1880 Mrs. L. S. Floyer Hints Exam. Needlew. 55 Pieces of *stocking material (coarse) for darning. |
| 1804 in Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Wearing Apparel ii. (1875) 19 A method of double seaming and uniting the inside of *stocking net work. |
| Ibid., *Stocking knit work. 1832 Patent in Newton's Lond. Jrnl. (1838) XII. 275 Machinery..for making or manufacturing stockings, stocking-net, or framework knitting. 1884 Rowlett Technol. Framework Knitting i. 101 Stocking Net, i.e. plain framework made from woollen yarn on circular frames... Of late years this has largely come into use for ladies' jersies. |
| 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxviii, [He] wore the trews,..wove out of a sort of chequered *stocking stuff. |
| 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 180/2 One continuous thread forms both warp and weft, if we may apply these terms to the *stocking-web. 1884 Cassell's Family Mag. Feb. 185/2 The stocking-web jackets..fit the figure quite closely. |
c. objective, as
stocking-darning,
stocking-knitter,
stocking-knitting,
stocking-maker,
stocking-making,
stocking-manufacturer,
stocking-mender,
stocking-presser,
stocking-seller.
| 1839 Dickens Nich. Nick. ix, Mrs. Squeers being engaged in the matronly pursuit of *stocking-darning. |
| 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The Company of *Stocking-knitters establish'd at Paris in 1527, took for their Patron St. Fiacre. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §374 Stocking knitter,..a frame hand..who attends a power-driven frame adjusted to knit elastic hosiery. |
| 1830 Scott Hrt. Midl. Introd., She..knit feet to country-people's stockings, which bears about the same relation to *stocking-knitting that cobbling does to shoe-making. |
| 1619 Canterb. Marriage Licences (MS.), Starr of Cranbrook, *stocken⁓maker. 1779 in J. R. Anderson Burgesses of Glasgow (1935) 117 Wilson, Gabriel, stocking-maker. 1812 J. Melish Trav. in U.S.A. II. 55 Professions exercised in Pittsburg:..stocking-makers, taylors, printers, book-binders. |
| 1812 1st Rep. Comm. Framework-Knitters App. 44 There are four descriptions of persons concerned in the *stocking-making business. a 1876 M. Collins Pen Sketches (1879) I. 149 Avoiding the dreary stocking-making town of Shepton Mallet. |
| 1793–4 Matthews's Bristol Directory 11 Bailey, Henry, *Stocking-manufacturer. |
| 1594 Nashe Terrors Nt. Wks. (Grosart) III. 249 [They will] steale out a signe ouer a Coblers stall, lyke Aqua vitæ sellers and *stocking menders. |
| 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2166/4 Mr. Edward Bonsaw, *Stocking-Presser. |
| 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. ii. i, He beates a Tayler very well, but a *Stocking-seller admirably. |
d. Special comb.;
stocking bar, a counter or bar in a shop at which stockings are sold;
stocking board, a board upon which stockings when wet are stretched and dried to shape;
stocking cap, a knitted woollen hat with a long tapered end which hangs down from the crown;
stocking filler, a small present suitable for putting in a Christmas stocking; also
fig.;
stocking leg, that part of a stocking which covers the leg; also as a receptacle for money (see 2 above);
stocking legger, ? one whose occupation was the seaming of stocking-legs;
stocking loom,
machine = stocking frame;
† stocking man, a stocking-maker;
stocking mask, a thin nylon stocking pulled over the face to disguise the features, used
esp. by criminals; hence
stocking-masked a.;
stocking needle, a darning-needle;
stocking-sole, the sole, or that part of a stocking which comes under the tread of the foot;
in, on one's stocking-soles, without one's shoes (
cf. 5 a above and
stocking-foot c);
stocking-stitch, the stitch used in hosiery (see
quot.);
stocking stuffer N. Amer. = stocking filler above;
stocking-throwing (see 5 b above);
stocking tights = tights n. pl. c;
stocking top, the upper part or leg of a stocking;
stocking-trimmer (see
quot. 1858);
stocking-weaver, one who weaves with a stocking-frame;
stocking-yarn, the thread used in making hosiery. Also
stocking-foot,
stocking-frame.
| 1962 Guardian 23 Feb. 8/3 The idea of a *stocking bar came from America eight years ago. 1965 Stocking bar [see bar n.1 28 b]. |
| 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. xxvii. 56 Glove and gauntlet trees and *stocking boards. |
| 1902 Daily Chron. 14 Feb. 7/5 The captain offered him a *stocking-cap, and he objected to wear it. 1978 Times 4 Mar. 22/5 The fishermen still wear their shirts and trousers of Portuguese tartan and long black stocking caps. |
| 1959 Listener 10 Dec. 1054/1 A useful *stocking-filler at 2s. is a gardener's measuring beaker, graduated for almost all fertilizers, insecticides, etc. 1973 Radio Times 20–27 Dec. 3 How's this for a stocking-filler? Radio Times has a complete Christmas package for you. 1979 M. Babson Twelve Deaths of Christmas xx. 109 Just tiny bits and pieces. Stocking fillers, small tokens. |
| 1861 R. Quinn Heather Lintie (1863) 225, I've..A *stockin' leg weel crammed, I trow, Wi' glancin' gowd sae yelly. |
| 1727 Brice's Weekly Jrnl. 10 Feb. 2 Thomas Herbert, jun. of London, *Stocking-legger. |
| 1715 A. Hill Acc. Beech-Oil Inv. 12 And thus the ingenious *Stocking Loom..was first invented. |
| 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 180/1 A singular confusion pervades the early history of the *stocking-machine. |
| 1622 in Crt. & Times Jas. I (1848) II. 346 *Stocking-men, haberdashers, point-makers and other mean trades. |
| 1966 Times 16 May 10 Three men in *stocking masks raided Martins Bank in South Audley Street. 1978 G. Greene Human Factor i. ii. 25 He might object to a stocking mask all the same. |
| 1971 Daily Tel. 24 Sept. 2/8 Six *stocking-masked bandits..ambushed a lorry at Bethnal Green yesterday. 1977 N. Adam Triplehip Cracksman xviii. 186 Corny stocking-masked villains. |
| 1886 A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends (1887) 148 So, takin' a bittie o' paper, he wrote on it, ‘Dear Mary’, an' wi' a *stockin' needle an' a bit worsit he steekit it on the inside o' the collar. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 575 Thereof [of the otter-skin] also in Germany they make..*stocking-soles. 1827 Scott Surg. Dau. v, A gallant young fellow like you,..six feet high on your stocking-soles. 1889 Barrie Window in Thrums xxi, Tibbie went ben the house in her stocking-soles, but Jess heard her. |
| 1805 6th Rep. Deput Kpr. Publ. Rec. App. ii. 154 Specification of..some new and improved kinds of *Stocking stitch, and warp work. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 648 The whole piece is composed of a single thread..looped together in a peculiar manner, which is called stocking-stitch, and sometimes chain-work. |
| 1976 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 7 Dec. 24/7 Rockefellers don't stress paperbacks this time of year—the market for *stocking stuffers is apparently limited. 1977 Time 17 Jan. 28/2 Around holiday season, stocking-stuffer items like The Slipper and the Rose usually show up, all covered in glitter and good will. |
| 1885 Scribner's Monthly Mag. XXX. 393/1 *Stocking-throwing and other such customs long lingered among the backwoodsmen of the colonies. |
| 1967 Economist 5 Aug. 517/1 Manufacturers report orders..up by 23 per cent, mainly thanks to the invention of *stocking tights..to go under mini skirts. 1977 J. Wainwright Nest of Rats i. i. 9 One leg of her stocking-tights badly torn. |
| 1664 Charter Framework-Knitters Co. §26 And these [appointed members] to prove, try, and see whether all *stocking-tops,..or any other thing..be workmanlike wrought. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede III. vi. liii. 305, I can count a stocking-top [in knitting] while a man's getting 's tongue ready. 1935 N. Mitchison We have been Warned i. ii. 19 To wear the sgian dhu in his stocking top, as he was allowed to with the kilt. 1978 R. H. Lewis Antiquarian Bks. ii. 47 Nina Hamnet..remembered..for her disconcerting habit of keeping her money in her stocking tops. |
| 1723 Lond. Gaz. No. 6194/9 Henry Hunt,..*Stocking-Trimmer. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Stocking-trimmer, a decorator or ornamenter of stockings; one who removes loose threads or imperfections. |
| 1697 De Foe Ess. Projects 24 For which I refer to the Engine it self, to be seen in every *Stocking-Weaver's Garret. 1866 Carlyle Remin. I. 85 Joe Blacklock [was] a rickety stocking-weaver. |
| 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 343 So high is the character of their *stocking-yarns and threads. 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 463 Stocking Yarn..is Cotton thread, and is spun softer and looser than either Mule or Water Twist. Two threads are afterwards doubled together, and then slightly twisted round each other. |
▪ II. stocking, vbl. n. (
ˈstɒkɪŋ)
[f. stock v.1 (occas. stock n.1) + -ing1.] 1. The action or process of fixing (a bell) to its stock, or furnishiing (a gun) with a stock.
| 1450 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 240 Et Joh'i Cales pro le stokkynge unius campane ad eccl. predictam, 4d. 1546 Acts Privy Counc. 23 May (1890) 423 Item; a warraunte..for xx markes in preste to the saide Mr. Darcy for the stocking of gonnes and other thinges there. 1588–9 in Garry Churchw. Acc. St. Mary's, Reading (1893) 68 Item for the newe stokinge of the Bels, ij s. vj d. 1703 in J. Watson's Jedburgh Abbey (1894) 91 A collection at the kirk door for payment of the little bell's casting, stocking, and other expenses. 1844 Queen's Regul. Army 99 For the Stock and new stocking Muskets and Carbines..10s. 6d. |
b. The parts forming the stock of a gun.
| 1532 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. VI. 156 To tua pynouris that tursit the gunnis to the stokkin in the castell. 1858 Greener Gunnery 395 From imperfections in the stocking of the gun. 1870 Athenæum 8 Oct. 471/1 Faults..in..the lever, the stocking, and the ammunition [of the Martini-Henry rifle]. |
2. a. The uprooting of trees or plants. Also with
up. Also
pl. (see
quot. 1851).
b. (See
quot. 1611.)
| c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xiii. (1885) 141 As it now well apperith be the new husbondry þat is done þer..in grobbyng and stokkyng off treis [etc.] 1534 stocking-iron [see sense 8]. 1611 Cotgr., Tronquement, a trunking, stocking, or cutting off. 1613 [Standish] New Direct. Planting 3 It were very conuenient, that the stocking vp of Woods were preuented,..for..within a very few years there wil be little or no wood left for any vse, the stocking & stubbing is so great. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 363 The Felling and Stocking up of Trees. 1851 Sternberg Northampt. Dial., Stockins, land reclaimed from the woods. |
3. The action of supplying with a stock or store; the furnishing (a farm) with cattle and implements or (a garden) with plants; also, keeping in stock.
| 1663 Act 15 Chas. II, c. 1 §15 All..Implements of Husbandry, and all other things whatsoever, imployed in the Husbanding Stocking and Manureing of their..Lands. 1766 Blackstone Comm. II. 7 So long as it [migration] was confined to the stocking and cultivation of desart uninhabited countries, it kept strictly within the limits of the law of nature. 1813 Scott Fam. Let. 23 Mar. (1894) I. ix. 277, I have been here for some days directing..the stocking of a garden. 1858 National Rev. Oct. 344 The natural pursuits of men make..a complete stocking of the mind more..necessarily a duty with them than with women. 1886 C. Scott Sheep-Farming 89 The only chance of rearing good lambs in such cases, lies in thin stocking, and giving a liberal supply of dry nourishing food. 1892 Daily News 5 Sept. 7/1 So far as the house coal trade is concerned,..there is no reason for taking a despondent view... Winter stocking will soon set in in earnest. |
b. concr. The cattle, farm implements, etc. as distinguished from the crops of a farm.
| 1730 T. Boston View this & other World 251 Abraham was rich in silver and gold, and Job in stocking. 1765 Pet. in Walker v. Spence 5 He had neither servants nor stocking proper for his farm. 1815 Scott Guy M. xii, And the furniture and stocking is to be roupit at the same time on the ground. 1818 S. E. Ferrier Marriage xi, I shall advance you stocking and stedding. 1856 Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 726/1 The stocking of a farm is the crop, cattle, and implements. |
4. (See
quot. and
cf. stock v.
1 18.)
| 1847 Evanson & Maunsell Managem. Childr. (ed. 5) 50 note, Nurses who have not a good supply of milk will, occasionally, be found to adopt a practice commonly employed with milch cows when brought to market, and called by the cattle dealers, stocking; that is, they allow the milk to accumulate in their breasts. |
5. Detention in the stocks.
| 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. xx. (1553) S ij, That strayte kepynge, collerynge, boltynge, and stockynge,..which..is vsed in these speciall priesonmentes. 1563–83 Foxe A. & M. 1917/2 Then began they to threaten him with whippyng, stockyng, burnyng, and such like. 1679 Penn Addr. Prot. ii. 220 Whence comes..Beatings, Bruisings, Stockings, Whippings, and Spilling of Blood for Religion? 1822 Scott Nigel iii, Such idle suitors are to be..punished for their audacity with stripes, stocking, or incarceration. |
6. Treatment in the stocks of a fulling mill or tannery.
| 1883 R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 367/1 After..the drench, the skins are..removed..to the stocks, where they are beaten..with heavy tilt-hammers. When soft, oil..is sprinkled on them, and the ‘stocking’ is continued. |
7. slang. (See
stock v.
1 23.)
| 1887 F. Francis Jun. Saddle & Mocassin 228 A tender⁓foot got in amongst the gamblers on board..and what with ‘strippers’, and ‘stocking’, and ‘cold decks’,..he hadn't the ghost of a chance. |
8. attrib. and
Comb., as (sense 1)
stocking-room; (sense 2)
stocking-hoe,
† stocking-iron; (sense 3)
stocking plant,
stocking-pot.
| 1863 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. XXXIV. 281 Some used *stocking-hoes and grubbed the ground 5 inches deep. |
| 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. xv. (1553) Q iiij b, He causeth like a good husband man his folke to come afield,..and with their hookes & their *stocking yrons, grubbe vp these wicked wedes & busshes of our earthly substance. |
| 1849 Florist 199 Those who are desirous of having *stocking plants [of pelargoniums] must cut their specimens down boldly. |
| 1840 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) I. 153 The plants..were raised from cuttings put into *stocking-pots. |
| 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. v. 106 The *stocking-room [for guns] is fitted with..the tools usually found in a cabinet maker's shop. |
▪ III. stocking, v. (
ˈstɒkɪŋ)
[f. stocking n.] 1. trans. To furnish with stockings.
| 1755 Johnson, To Stocking, v.a., to dress in stockings. 1874 in W. Knight J. C. Shairp xiii. (1888) 315 The boys may be stockinged; will the mind be clothed and fed? 1892 The Voice (N.Y.) Apr. 28 Enough..cotton to stocking every foot. |
† 2. To kill with a weapon consisting of a stone placed in the foot of a stocking. (Said of a soldier's wife or a camp-follower.)
Obs.| 1762 in Grimston Papers (MS.), As she had a regular education in Flanders, will be of great service when we come to action, in stripping, despatching, fleecing and stockinging the enemy. |