stocking

[ stok-ing ]

noun

1. a close-fitting covering for the foot and part of the leg, usually knitted, of wool, cotton, nylon, silk, or similar material.
2. something resembling such a covering.

stocking

/ ˈstɒkɪŋ /

noun

1. one of a pair of close-fitting garments made of knitted yarn to cover the foot and part or all of the leg
2. something resembling this in position, function, appearance, etc
3. in one's stocking feet or in one's stockinged feet
   wearing stockings or socks but no shoes

Other Words From

• stockinged adjective
• stocking·less adjective
• half-stocking noun
• over·stocking noun
• un·stockinged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stocking¹

First recorded in 1575–85; stock + -ing ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of stocking¹

C16: from dialect stock stocking + -ing ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in one's stocking feet, wearing stockings, but without shoes:

   Be careful of glass splinters if you walk through here in your stocking feet.

Example Sentences

From the 1920s through the 1960s, wearing stockings was a requirement of womanhood— veryone did it, regardless of social class.

From Popular-Science

Nylon was needed for military uses, so women offered up their stockings to be recycled.

From Science News

For example, historical data on warehouse stocking levels and customer ordering patterns could be pivotal for a company trying to create a more efficient supply chain.

From MIT Technology Review

Get your friends a set of those tools and look forward to a future of fruit preserves in your holiday stocking.

From Popular-Science

Their solutions, only partly understood by scientists so far, involve pressurized organs, altered heart rhythms, blood storage—and the biological equivalent of support stockings.

From Ars Technica

A stocking stuffed with $324,000 in easily negotiable $20 bills weighs 132 pounds.

From The Daily Beast

This candle may just be the perfect stocking stuffer or gift for a dear friend.

From The Daily Beast

Many doomsday preppers have spent their lives stocking up for an emergency of the type this contagious hemorrhagic fever presents.

From The Daily Beast

You'd take a stocking and cut a hole for your eyes and wear it over your head.

From The Daily Beast

Nobody wants coal in their stocking, but what about their stomach?

From The Daily Beast

A handkerchief, once red, with polka spots, contained a ragged flannel shirt and a stocking-heel tied with a piece of tape.

From Project Gutenberg

The peasant woman went on her way meditating in what old stocking or under what mattress she should hide her two gold pieces.

From Project Gutenberg

And early in the afternoon she and Violet sat with the workbag between them, each with a stocking.

From Project Gutenberg

"Six, six and one-eighth in his stocking feet, to be exact," Mr. Peck corrected.

From Project Gutenberg

The edge of a soiled petticoat, or the glimpse of a rent stocking is singularly disenchanting.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hose
• hosiery
• sock