Meaning & use
stocks
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“stocks” is a form of “stock”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounpluralfinance
Shares in companies that people buy and sell, hoping their value will rise or that they will receive a share of profits.
Grammar: Used in the plural for investments in general: stocks are risky, but a single holding is a stock.
Patterns
- invest in stocks
- stocks in something
My aunt put part of her savings into stocks instead of leaving it in the bank.
Technology stocks fell sharply after the company warned about weaker sales.
He checks the price of his stocks every morning before work.
nounusually plural
Quantities of goods or materials that a shop, business or country keeps available for use or sale.
Grammar: Often followed by of: stocks of grain, stocks of medicine.
Patterns
- stocks of something
- stocks run low
Food stocks in the village were running low after the road was closed by snow.
The hospital keeps large stocks of bandages in its basement.
Fuel stocks across the region are lower than they were last winter.
nounpluralold-fashioned
In past centuries, a wooden frame with holes that held a wrongdoer's feet or hands so they could be shamed in public.
Grammar: Almost always plural and usually used with in: put someone in the stocks.
Patterns
- in the stocks
- put someone in the stocks
In the old village, anyone caught stealing might be locked in the stocks on market day.
Tourists take photos beside the stocks on the village green.
The guide explained that the stocks were meant to humiliate rather than injure.
verbtransitive
Third person singular of stock: keeps a particular kind of goods available for customers to buy.
Grammar: Takes an object: the shop stocks organic vegetables.
Patterns
- someone stocks something
Our local bookshop stocks a surprising number of foreign novels.
The cafe stocks several kinds of plant milk.
This pharmacy stocks everything from vitamins to hair dye.
Common combinations
- stocks and shares
- She holds a small portfolio of stocks and shares for her retirement.
- buy stocks
- Many young people now buy stocks using phone apps.
- stocks rose
- Stocks rose on Friday after the encouraging jobs report.
- stocks plunged
- Stocks plunged as investors panicked about rising interest rates.
- stocks run low
- When stocks run low, the shop orders more from the warehouse.
- build up stocks
- The government built up stocks of emergency supplies before the storm season.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shares
- Shares is the more common word in British English and stresses ownership of a piece of one company, whereas stocks often means the whole category of such investments.
- equities
- Equities is a more formal, professional term used by fund managers when contrasting company ownership with bonds or property.
- supplies
- Supplies fits the goods sense when you mean what people need to use, while stocks stresses the amount kept in store.
- reserves
- Reserves suggests a quantity deliberately held back for emergencies, which stocks does not always imply.
Opposites
Word family
- stock noun
- a single share, or a supply of goods
- stockbroker noun
- a person who buys and sells shares for clients
- stockholder noun
- an owner of shares in a company
- stockpile noun
- a large store of something kept for future use
- stockroom noun
- a room where goods are stored
Commonly confused: stocks or bonds?
stocks vs bonds
Bonds are loans you make to a government or company in return for interest, while stocks give you part ownership of a company.
Practice
Investors who buy ___ become part owners of a company.
Choose one answer.
Stocks are shares of ownership in a company. Bonds are tempting, but they are loans, so the buyer does not own part of the company.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stocks”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.