Stocks

In criminal law. A machine, commonly made of wood, with holes in it, in which to confine persons accused of or guilty of crime. It was used either to confine unruly offenders by way of security, or convicted criminals for punishment. This barbarous punishment has been generally abandoned in the United States.

In Criminal Law. A machine, commonly made of wood, with holes in it, in which to confine persons accused of or guilty of crime. It was used either to confine unruly offenders by way of security, or convicted criminals for punishment. This punishment has been generally abandoned in the United States; in England they were used as late as 1S72.

A machine constructed of wood, with holes through which the feet or legs of offenders were passed, and their persons thus confined. Stoppas:e in transitu. Stoppage on the transit or passage; stoppage of goods sold on their way to the buyer; the right of a seller of goods on credit to resume possession while the goods are in the hands of a carrier, where the buyer has become insolvent or embarrassed.

A contrivance for inflicting punishment, consisting of a frame, acting like a large clamp, with openings for the legs, or legs and arms, and which, when ad justed, held the delinquent in a sitting posture."^ Compare Rack,

A contrivance in the nature of a large clamp, adapted to hold a man's legs, so that, when it was adjusted, the person sat in confinement. It was originally used to confine offenders for security, and afterwards by way of inflicting punishment of the same nature as that of the pillory, q. v. It is now obsolete.