take stock Definition

stock
noun

1. Goods or raw material that a shop, factory, warehouse, etc has on the premises at a given time.

Example: Our stocks of packing material are getting low
Thesaurus: merchandise, produce, commodities, accumulation, goods, inventory, property, selection, supply, wares.
Form: stocks (sometimes)
2. A supply kept in reserve.

Example: an impressive stock of fine wine
3. Equipment or raw material in use.
4. Liquid in which meat or vegetables have been cooked and which can then be used as a base for soup, a sauce, etc.
5. The shaped wooden or plastic part of a rifle or similar gun that the user rests against their shoulder.
6. Farm animals; livestock.
7. The money raised by a company through the selling of shares.
8. The total shares issued by a particular company or held by an individual shareholder.

Thesaurus: funds, property, capital, stocks and shares, investment.
9. A group of shares bought or sold as a unit.
10. Ancestry; descent.

Example: of peasant stock
11. Any of various Mediterranean plants of the wallflower family that are cultivated for their bright flowers.
12. formerly
A wooden device that was used for securing offenders who were held by the head and wrists or by the wrists and ankles, so that they could be displayed for public ridicule as a punishment, eg for drunkenness, whoring, etc.
Form: the stocks
13. Reputation; standing.
14. The handle of a fishing rod, whip, etc.

adj

1. Being of a standard type, size, etc, constantly in demand and always kept in stock.
2. Said of a phrase, etc: much used, especially so over-used as to be meaningless.

Thesaurus: trite, hackneyed, common, banal, dull, clichéd, worn-out, overused, bromidic; Antonym: original.

verb stocked, stocking

1. To keep a supply for sale.
2. To provide with a supply.

Example: stocked the drinks cabinet with expensive brandies

Idiom: in stock

Currently held for sale on the premises.

Idiom: out of stock

Not currently held for sale on the premises, especially temporarily.

Idiom: take stock

To make an inventory of all stock held on the premises at a particular time.

Idiom: take stock of something

To make an overall assessment of one's circumstances, etc.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon stocc stick.

Phrasal Verb: stock up on something

To acquire or accumulate a large supply of it.