unstocking

Verb

unstock (third-person singular simple present unstocks, present participle unstocking, simple past and past participle unstocked)

1. (transitive) To remove the stock (store or supply) from; to empty of goods.
   • And where open for the whole year, and it would be attended with great advantage to unstock and shut up the same at particular seasons, two-thirds in number and value of commoners, with consent of lord of manor, or his steward, may direct what time they shall be unstocked and shut up;1792, Arthur Young, Annals of Agriculture and Other Useful Arts, page 521
2. (transitive) To remove the stock (block or support) from; to release from that which fixes in place.
   • Directed the master to unstock one of the anchors and store it below .1870, George Henry Preble, The First Cruise of the United States Frigate Essex, page 63
3. (transitive) To remove (a ship etc.) from the stocks.
   • Where the Troyans fast Fell to their work, from the shore to unstock High rigged ships:1831, Henry Howard, “The Fourth Book of Virgil's Æneid”, in The Poems of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, page 171
4. (figuratively) To free up or release.
   • When commercial banks cannot unstock their open positions, i.e., either overbought or oversold at the retail level, they normally trade among themselves to balance their positions and avoid unnecessary exchange risks.1988, Beoy Kui Ng, The Development and Growth of Foreign Exchange Markets in the SEACEN Countries, page 13

See all 5 meanings of unstock