it is on the stocks
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
It is in hand, but not yet finished. The stocks is the frame in which a ship is placed while building and so long as it is in hand it is said to be or to lie on the stocks.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “it is on the stocks” mean?
It is in hand, but not yet finished. The stocks is the frame in which a ship is placed while building and so long as it is in hand it is said to be or to lie on the stocks.
Is “it is on the stocks” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.