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Synonyms

common stock

American  

noun

  1. stock that ordinarily has no preference in the matter of dividends or assets and represents the residual ownership of a corporate business.

  2. Animal Husbandry. stock that is not purebred.

common stock British  

noun

  1. the US name for ordinary shares

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of common stock

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

If a company issues common stock for any reason, the number of shares increases and the dilution lowers earnings per share.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 25, 2026

Following this month’s transactions, the living trust held 4,069,134 shares of common stock.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

The transaction comprises $300 million in cash and 126.8 million shares of new USA Rare Earth common stock, and is expected to close in the third quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

The bank repurchased $7.2 billion worth of common stock during the first quarter, up from $6.3 billion in the previous quarter and $4.5 billion during the year-earlier quarter.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

The child learns such words as parts of the common stock of speech, or even as parts of his mother-tongue, just as he does the words 'father,' 'mother,' 'bread,' 'milk.'

From Popular scientific lectures by Mach, Ernst

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.