stock
25 synonyms and 0 antonyms for stock, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — The goods a shop or business keeps available to sell.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
How to use stock
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Etymology
From Old English stocc, "tree trunk" — the sense of "supply" or "goods" grew out of the idea of a stockpile or storehouse.
Full origin of stock →Frequently asked questions
What does “stock” mean?
The word “stock” means the goods a shop or business keeps available to sell. In plain terms, depending on context: goods for sale, a company share, a cooking base, or "standard/unmodified.".
How do you pronounce “stock”?
“Stock” is pronounced stok (/stɑk/ in IPA).
How do you use “stock” in a sentence?
Here is “stock” used in a sentence: “The store is out of stock on that size.”
What part of speech is “stock”?
Depending on how it is used, “stock” can be a noun, a verb and an adjective.
Where does the word “stock” come from?
The word “stock” comes from Old English. From Old English stocc, "tree trunk" — the sense of "supply" or "goods" grew out of the idea of a stockpile or storehouse.
Is “stock” a common word?
“Stock” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.
How many meanings does “stock” have?
“Stock” has 5 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the goods a shop or business keeps available to sell.
What is the difference between stock and inventory?
The two overlap and are often used interchangeably. "Stock" usually means the finished goods a shop keeps ready to sell to customers. "Inventory" is a broader term covering all goods a business holds, including raw materials and work in progress. In everyday shop talk, they mean much the same thing.
What does it mean to be out of stock?
"Out of stock" means a shop or business has temporarily sold all of a particular item and has none left to sell. The product still exists and will usually be reordered, unlike "discontinued," which means it will not return. "In stock" means it is available to buy now.
What is the difference between stock and stocks?
In this sense, "stock" means the goods a shop has for sale. "Stocks," by contrast, usually refers to shares — units of ownership in a company traded on the stock market. The two meanings are unrelated, so context matters: a warehouse holds stock, an investor buys stocks.
What is an example of stock?
The tins of soup on a supermarket shelf, the clothes hanging in a boutique, and the boxes of spare parts in a warehouse are all stock. Anything a business keeps on hand ready to sell to customers counts — from a single item to an entire storeroom.