- present participle of stock.
stocking
Americannoun
-
stockings
plural
-
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.
idioms
noun
-
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
-
wearing stockings or socks but no shoes
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
half-stockingnoun
-
overstockingnoun
-
stockingedadjective
-
stockinglessadjective
-
unstockingedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of stocking
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.
See Examples For:
Food and beverage companies also begin stocking up for one of their busiest sales periods, adding pressure on wholesale prices.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
At the Pacific Islands Club Saipan resort, workers were boarding up windows, securing outdoor furniture and equipment, checking alarm systems and stocking first aid kits.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
You may miss stocking up in well-lit superstores but enjoy getting to know shopkeepers who run tiny bodegas.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
If you’re like me and still love stocking up on paper coupons, use them!
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
Uhmma holds her high heels in one hand, her stocking feet buried in the sand.
From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na
Women would wear dresses and stockings; men would don suits and hats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
The other DHS clip is a montage of Yuletide cheer — Santa, elves, stockings, dancing — over a sped-up electro-trash remake of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
Meanwhile, investors may be hoping for some gold and silver in their Christmas stockings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
The elaborate practice of the "evzones", elite infantry conscripts wearing skirts, white stockings and clogs, routinely draws a wall of tourist smartphones.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025
So they hung their stockings by the fireplace, and said their prayers, and went to bed—Alice and Ella and Mary and Laura all in one big bed on the floor.
From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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.
