overstock
[verb oh-ver-stok; noun oh-ver-stok]
- to stock to excess: We are overstocked on this item.
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- a stock that is larger than the actual need or demand.
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Origin of overstock
stocking
[stok-ing]
- a close-fitting covering for the foot and part of the leg, usually knitted, of wool, cotton, nylon, silk, or similar material.
- something resembling such a covering.
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- in one's stocking feet, wearing stockings, but without shoes: Be careful of glass splinters if you walk through here in your stocking feet.
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Origin of stocking
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for overstocking
Historical Examples
You should, also, avoid the too common error of overstocking with sheep when the price of wool is high.
The absorbing issues before the convention were the Texas fever and the overstocking of the range.
Roosevelt in the Bad LandsH. Hagedorn.
In Derby and Nottingham apparent understocking becomes the exception and overstocking the rule.
Domesday Book and BeyondFrederic William Maitland
The overstocking of the labor market has become a menace to many trade-unions, especially those of the lesser skilled workers.
Races and Immigrants in AmericaJohn R. Commons
I say it all comes from your overstocking and returning hooked fish to the water.
Lines in Pleasant PlacesWilliam Senior
overstock
- to hold or supply (a commodity) in excess of requirements
- to run more farm animals on (a piece of land) than it is capable of maintaining
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stocking
- one of a pair of close-fitting garments made of knitted yarn to cover the foot and part or all of the leg
- something resembling this in position, function, appearance, etc
- in one's stocking feet or in one's stockinged feet wearing stockings or socks but no shoes
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Word Origin
C16: from dialect stock stocking + -ing 1
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
Word Origin and History for overstocking
overstock
stocking
n.
"close-fitting garment covering the foot and leg," 1580s, from stocka "leg covering, stock," from Old English stocu "sleeve," related to Old English stocc "trunk, log" (see stock (n.1)). Probably so called because of a fancied resemblance of legs to tree trunks, or a reference to the punishing stocks. Cognates include Old Norse stuka, Old High German stuhha, from the same Proto-Germanic source. Restriction to women's hose is 20c. As a receptacle for Christmas presents, attested from 1853; hence stocking stuffer first recorded 1976.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper