Meaning & use
dead stock
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountablebusiness
Goods that a business cannot sell, which sit in storage and are no longer likely to attract buyers.
Grammar: Uncountable: we have a lot of dead stock; no plural.
Patterns
- write off dead stock
- dead stock in the warehouse
The store wrote off its dead stock at the end of the financial year.
Old phone cases piled up as dead stock in the back room.
A clearance sale helped the shop get rid of dead stock.
noununcountableinformal
New, unused clothing or shoes from past seasons, kept in original condition and valued by collectors.
Grammar: Usually written as one word in this sense: deadstock sneakers.
Patterns
- deadstock sneakers
He paid triple the original price for a pair of deadstock sneakers.
The boutique sells vintage dead stock jeans with the tags still attached.
Collectors prefer dead stock because it has never been worn.
noununcountableold-fashionedspecialist
Farm equipment and non-living property on a farm, as opposed to livestock.
Grammar: Contrasted with livestock: live stock versus dead stock.
Patterns
- live and dead stock
The farm sale included livestock and dead stock.
The auctioneer listed the machinery as dead stock.
Tools and carts counted as dead stock in the farm's accounts.
Common combinations
- clear dead stock
- The retailer held a sale to clear dead stock.
- write off dead stock
- The firm had to write off dead stock worth thousands.
- excess dead stock
- Excess dead stock takes up warehouse space and costs money.
- deadstock sneakers
- Deadstock sneakers can sell for several times the shop price.
- dead stock inventory
- Check the dead stock inventory before ordering new items.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unsold stock
- Unsold stock may still sell soon, whereas dead stock is unlikely ever to sell.
- obsolete inventory
- Obsolete inventory is the formal accounting term and implies goods are out of date, which dead stock does not always mean.
- surplus
- Surplus means simply more than needed, but dead stock is specifically goods nobody wants to buy.
- slow-moving stock
- Slow-moving stock still sells, just slowly, whereas dead stock has effectively stopped selling.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: dead stock or dead weight?
dead stock vs dead weight
Dead weight is a heavy burden or useless load, while dead stock is specifically unsellable goods.
Practice
The shop owner discounted a huge pile of out-of-fashion jackets because they had become ______ nobody wanted.
Choose one answer.
Dead stock is goods that will not sell, which fits unwanted jackets. 'Live stock' refers to farm animals, and the other options have no matching business meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dead stock”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.