from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Stocking \Stock"ing\, n. [From {Stock}, which was formerly used
of a covering for the legs and feet, combining breeches, or
upper stocks, and stockings, or nether stocks.]
1. A close-fitting covering for the foot and leg, usually
knit or woven.
[1913 Webster]
2. Any of various things resembling, or likened to, a
stocking[1]; as:
(a) A broad ring of color, differing from the general
color, on the lower part of the leg of a quadruped;
esp., a white ring between the coronet and the hock or
knee of a dark-colored horse.
(b) A knitted hood of cotton thread which is eventually
converted by a special process into an incandescent
mantle for gas lighting.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{Blue stocking}. See {Bluestocking}.
{Stocking frame}, a machine for knitting stockings or other
hosiery goods.
[1913 Webster]