Stock vs. Store: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
Stock refers to the inventory or goods available for sale, whereas a store is a physical location where these goods are sold.
Key Differences
Stock primarily refers to the goods and merchandise held by a business for the purpose of resale, while a store is the physical retail space where these items are displayed and sold to consumers. Stock encompasses the variety of items available for purchase, whereas a store is the environment where customers can browse and buy these items.
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Nov 19, 2023
Managing stock involves inventory control, ensuring there is an adequate supply of goods, whereas managing a store includes maintaining the physical space, customer service, and sales operations. Effective stock management ensures products are available when needed, while effective store management creates a welcoming and efficient shopping experience.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
Stock can fluctuate based on demand, sales, and supply chain factors, while a store's physical presence is more constant, though its layout and design may change. Changes in stock levels reflect business activity and market trends, whereas changes in a store often aim to enhance customer experience and sales efficiency.
Shumaila Saeed
Nov 19, 2023
The value of stock is a direct component of a business's assets, influencing its financial health, whereas a store contributes to the business's brand image and customer engagement. Stock represents a financial investment for a business, while a store represents the physical and brand presence in the market.
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Nov 19, 2023
In e-commerce, stock still plays a critical role, while the concept of a store shifts to a virtual or online presence. Even in online retail, managing stock is crucial to fulfill orders, while the online store serves as the digital interface for customers.
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Nov 19, 2023
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Goods or merchandise available for sale.
A physical or virtual place where goods are sold.
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Management Focus
Inventory control and supply management.
Physical space, customer service, and sales operations.
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Nov 19, 2023
Fluctuation
Varied based on demand and supply.
Physical presence is constant, though layout/design can change.
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Nov 19, 2023
Business Role
Direct impact on financial health.
Contributes to brand image and customer experience.
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Nov 19, 2023
E-commerce Context
Remains crucial for order fulfillment.
Transforms into a digital interface or online platform.
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Nov 19, 2023
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Stock and Store Definitions
Stock
The inventory of goods held for sale.
The store replenished its stock of popular items.
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Nov 19, 2023
Store
A place where goods are sold to the public.
The new store downtown offers a variety of organic products.
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Nov 19, 2023
Stock
A liquid made by boiling bones and meat, used as a base for soups.
She prepared a rich chicken stock for the soup.
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Nov 19, 2023
Store
To put or keep things in a special place for use in the future.
We store seasonal decorations in the attic.
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Nov 19, 2023
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Stock
The total merchandise kept on hand by a merchant, commercial establishment, warehouse, or manufacturer.
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Store
A stock or supply reserved for future use
A squirrel's store of acorns.
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Stock
A population of wild animals, especially of a species that is also farmed
Interactions between hatchery fish and wild stocks.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
A kind of financial security granting rights of ownership in a corporation, such as a claim to a portion of the assets and earnings of the corporation and the right to vote for the board of directors. Stock is issued and traded in units called shares.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The stock issued by a particular company
A mutual fund that invests in technology stocks.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Chiefly British The money invested in a corporation, including debt and equity.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
(Computers) To copy (data) into memory or onto a storage device, such as a hard disk.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
A place where items may be accumulated or routinely kept.
This building used to be a store for old tires.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
(mainly North American) A place where items may be purchased; a shop.
I need to get some milk from the grocery store.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The descendants of a common ancestor; a family line, especially of a specified character
Comes from farming stock.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
A head of store cattle (feeder cattle to be sold to others for finishing); a store cattle beast.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
(transitive) To keep (something) while not in use, generally in a place meant for that purpose.
I'll store these books in the attic.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
Have the capacity and capability to contain.
They sell boxes that store 24 mason jars.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
To write (something) into memory or registers.
This operation stores the result on the stack.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
That which is accumulated, or massed together; a source from which supplies may be drawn; hence, an abundance; a great quantity, or a great number.
The ships are fraught with store of victuals.
With store of ladies, whose bright eyesRain influence, and give the prize.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
A place of deposit for goods, esp. for large quantities; a storehouse; a warehouse; a magazine.
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Store
Any place where goods are sold, whether by wholesale or retail; a shop.
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Stock
The broth in which meat, fish, bones, or vegetables are simmered for a relatively long period, used as a base in preparing soup, gravy, or sauces.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
Articles, especially of food, accumulated for some specific object; supplies, as of provisions, arms, ammunition, and the like; as, the stores of an army, of a ship, of a family.
His swine, his horse, his stoor, and his poultry.
In his needy shop a tortoise hung,An alligator stuffed, and other skinsOf ill-shaped fishes; and about his shelvesA beggarly account of empty boxes.
Sulphurous and nitrous foam, . . . Concocted and adjusted, they reducedTo blackest grain, and into store conveyed.
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Stock
Stocks(Nautical) The timber frame that supports a ship during construction.
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Store
To collect as a reserved supply; to accumulate; to lay away.
Dora stored what little she could save.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Often stocks A frame in which a horse or other animal is held for shoeing or for veterinary treatment.
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Store
To furnish; to supply; to replenish; esp., to stock or furnish against a future time.
Her mind with thousand virtues stored.
Wise Plato said the world with men was stored.
Having stored a pond of four acres with carps, tench, and other fish.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Stocks A device consisting of a heavy timber frame with holes for confining the ankles and sometimes the wrists, formerly used for punishment.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
To deposit in a store, warehouse, or other building, for preservation; to warehouse; as, to store goods.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
A mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services;
He bought it at a shop on Cape Cod
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Store
A supply of something available for future use;
He brought back a large store of Cuban cigars
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The rear wooden, metal, or plastic handle or support of a rifle, pistol, or automatic weapon, to which the barrel and mechanism are attached.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
An electronic memory device;
A memory and the CPU form the central part of a computer to which peripherals are attached
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The long supporting structure and mooring beam of field-gun carriages that trails along the ground to provide stability and support.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
A handle, such as that of a whip, a fishing rod, or various carpentry tools.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
Keep or lay aside for future use;
Store grain for the winter
The bear stores fat for the period of hibernation when he doesn't eat
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Stock
The frame of a plow, to which the share, handles, coulter, and other parts are fastened.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
Find a place for and put away for storage;
Where should we stow the vegetables?
I couldn't store all the books in the attic so I sold some
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
A large stock or supply of something.
He keeps a store of emergency supplies in his basement.
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Store
A business establishment selling items.
The convenience store is open 24/7.
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Nov 19, 2023
Stock
A theater or theatrical activity, especially outside of a main theatrical center
A small role in summer stock.
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Oct 19, 2023
Store
The act of saving or putting away for future use.
She stores her family's photo albums in a safe place.
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Nov 19, 2023
Stock
(Botany) Any of several Eurasian and Mediterranean plants of the genus Matthiola in the mustard family, especially M. incana, widely cultivated for its clusters of showy, fragrant, variously colored flowers.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
(Games) The portion of a pack of cards or of a group of dominoes that is not dealt out but is drawn from during a game.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
(Geology) A body of intrusive igneous rock of which less than 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) is exposed.
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Stock
Personal reputation or status
A teacher whose stock with the students is rising.
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Stock
Repeated regularly without any thought or originality; routine
A stock answer.
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Stock
Employed in dealing with or caring for stock or merchandise
A stock clerk.
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Stock
Of or being a conventional character or situation that recurs in many literary or cinematic works.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
(operations) A store of goods ready for sale; inventory.
We have a stock of televisions on hand.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
A supply of anything ready for use.
Lay in a stock of wood for the winter season.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The population of a given type of animal (especially fish) available to be captured from the wild for economic use.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
(finance) The capital raised by a company through the issue of shares. The total of shares held by an individual shareholder.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The price or value of the stock of a company on the stock market.
When the bad news came out, the company's stock dropped precipitously.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
(figurative) The measure of how highly a person or institution is valued.
After that last screw-up of mine, my stock is pretty low around here.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Any of several types of security that are similar to a stock, or marketed like one.
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Stock
Broth made from meat (originally bones) or vegetables, used as a basis for stew or soup.
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Stock
The type of paper used in printing.
The books were printed on a heavier stock this year.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The trunk and woody main stems of a tree. The base from which something grows or branches.
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Stock
Any of the several species of cruciferous flowers in the genus Matthiola.
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Stock
A handle or stem to which the working part of an implement or weapon is attached.
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Stock
(firearm) The part of a rifle or shotgun that rests against the shooter's shoulder.
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Stock
(nautical) A bar going through an anchor, perpendicular to the flukes.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
(nautical) The axle attached to the rudder, which transfers the movement of the helm to the rudder.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
A necktie or cravat, particularly a wide necktie popular in the eighteenth century, often seen today as a part of formal wear for horse riding competitions.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
(folklore) A piece of wood magically made to be just like a real baby and substituted for it by magical beings.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
A block of wood; something fixed and solid; a pillar; a firm support; a post.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
A person who is as dull and lifeless as a stock or post; one who has little sense.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The longest part of a split tally stick formerly struck in the exchequer, which was delivered to the person who had lent the king money on account, as the evidence of indebtedness.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Red and grey bricks, used for the exterior of walls and the front of buildings.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
(biology) In tectology, an aggregate or colony of individuals, such as trees, chains of salpae, etc.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
To have on hand for sale.
The store stocks all kinds of dried vegetables.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
To provide with material requisites; to store; to fill; to supply.
To stock a warehouse with goods
To stock a farm, i.e. to supply it with cattle and tools
To stock land, i.e. to occupy it with a permanent growth, especially of grass
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
To allow (cows) to retain milk for twenty-four hours or more prior to sale.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
(nautical) To fit (an anchor) with a stock, or to fasten the stock firmly in place.
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Stock
To arrange cards in a certain manner for cheating purposes; to stack the deck.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Of a type normally available for purchase/in stock.
Stock items
Stock sizes
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Stock
Having the same configuration as cars sold to the non-racing public, or having been modified from such a car.
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Stock
Straightforward, ordinary, just another, very basic.
He gave me a stock answer.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The stem, or main body, of a tree or plant; the fixed, strong, firm part; the trunk.
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.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The stem or branch in which a graft is inserted.
The scion overruleth the stock quite.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
A block of wood; something fixed and solid; a pillar; a firm support; a post.
All our fathers worshiped stocks and stones.
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.
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Stock
Hence, a person who is as dull and lifeless as a stock or post; one who has little sense.
Let's be no stoics, nor no stocks.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The principal supporting part; the part in which others are inserted, or to which they are attached.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
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.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The original progenitor; also, the race or line of a family; the progenitor of a family and his direct descendants; lineage; family.
And stand betwixt them made, when, severally,All told their stock.
Thy mother was no goddess, nor thy stockFrom Dardanus.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The handle or contrivance by which bits are held in boring; a bitstock; a brace.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
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.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
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.
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Stock
The wooden or iron crosspiece to which the shank of an anchor is attached. See Illust. of Anchor.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Supply provided; store; accumulation; especially, a merchant's or manufacturer's store of goods; as, to lay in a stock of provisions.
Add to that stock which justly we bestow.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The support of the block in which an anvil is fixed, or of the anvil itself.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Domestic animals or beasts collectively, used or raised on a farm; as, a stock of cattle or of sheep, etc.; - called also live stock.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
A handle or wrench forming a holder for the dies for cutting screws; a diestock.
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Oct 19, 2023
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.
I must buy the stock; send me good cardings.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
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.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
A covering for the leg, or leg and foot; as, upper stocks (breeches); nether stocks (stockings).
With a linen stock on one leg.
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Oct 19, 2023
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.
He shall rest in my stocks.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Red and gray bricks, used for the exterior of walls and the front of buildings.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Any cruciferous plant of the genus Matthiola; as, common stock (Matthiola incana) (see Gilly-flower); ten-weeks stock (M. annua).
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Stock
An irregular metalliferous mass filling a large cavity in a rock formation, as a stock of lead ore deposited in limestone.
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Stock
In tectology, an aggregate or colony of persons (see Person), as trees, chains of salpæ, etc.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
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.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Raw material; that out of which something is manufactured; as, paper stock.
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Stock
A plain soap which is made into toilet soap by adding perfumery, coloring matter, etc.
At the outset of any inquiry it is proper to take stock of the results obtained by previous explorers of the same field.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
To lay up; to put aside for future use; to store, as merchandise, and the like.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
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.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
To suffer to retain milk for twenty-four hours or more previous to sale, as cows.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
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 phrase; a stock response; a stock sermon.
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The capital raised by a corporation through the issue of shares entitling holders to an ownership interest (equity);
He owns a controlling share of the company's stock
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Liquid in which meat and vegetables are simmered; used as a basis for e.g. soups or sauces;
She made gravy with a base of beef stock
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Stock
The merchandise that a shop has on hand;
They carried a vast inventory of hardware
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
A supply of something available for future use;
He brought back a large store of Cuban cigars
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The descendants of one individual;
His entire lineage has been warriors
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Stock
The handle of a handgun or the butt end of a rifle or shotgun or part of the support of a machine gun or artillery gun;
The rifle had been fitted with a special stock
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Stock
The reputation and popularity a person has;
His stock was so high he could have been elected mayor
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Stock
A special variety of domesticated animals within a species;
He experimented on a particular breed of white rats
He created a new strain of sheep
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Lumber used in the construction of something;
They will cut round stock to 1-inch diameter
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Stock
A certificate documenting the shareholder's ownership in the corporation;
The value of his stocks doubled during the past year
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
A plant or stem onto which a graft is made; especially a plant grown specifically to provide the root part of grafted plants
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Stock
Any of several Old World plants cultivated for their brightly colored flowers
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Stock
The handle end of some implements or tools;
He grabbed the cue by the stock
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
Stock up on to keep for future use or sale;
Let's stock coffee as long as prices are low
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Stock
Provide or furnish with a stock of something;
Stock the larder with meat
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Stock
Put forth and grow sprouts or shoots;
The plant sprouted early this year
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Stock
Repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse;
Bromidic sermons
His remarks were trite and commonplace
Hackneyed phrases
A stock answer
Repeating threadbare jokes
Parroting some timeworn axiom
The trite metaphor `hard as nails'
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Oct 19, 2023
Stock
The supply of a particular item available for sale.
The stock of winter coats was nearly sold out.
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Stock
Shares representing ownership in a corporation.
He invested in stock of a leading tech company.
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Stock
The handle of a gun or rifle.
The rifle's stock was made of polished wood.
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Nov 19, 2023
Repeatedly Asked Queries
Does a store always mean a physical location?
Not always; it can also refer to an online platform.
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Nov 19, 2023
Do stores only sell physical products?
Mostly, but some offer services as well.
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Nov 19, 2023
How do stores attract customers?
Through location, layout, marketing, and customer service.
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Nov 19, 2023
Do all businesses have stock?
Most do, except purely service-based businesses.
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Nov 19, 2023
What's the difference between a store and a shop?
Generally the same, but "store" is more commonly used in American English.
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Nov 19, 2023
How often is stock replenished?
Depending on sales, demand, and supply chain efficiency.
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Nov 19, 2023
How does store layout affect sales?
It influences customer flow and product visibility.
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Nov 19, 2023
What is a flagship store?
The lead store of a retail brand, often in a prominent location.
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Nov 19, 2023
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.