stock-still

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   completely motionless

   The crowd stood stock-still while the sheriff crossed the square.

2. 2
   adv

   without moving at all

   Pap complained that the government had sat stock-still for six months.

An inversion of the older comparison still as a stock, where stock meant a tree trunk or block of wood. The image is of someone as immovable as a solid post.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images