stocking

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 ]

v. t. To dress in GBs. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]