Stalker or stocker?
stalker is a noun meaning “A person who engages in stalking, i.e., quietly approaching animals to be…”; stocker is a noun meaning “Livestock that is wintered and then sold in the spring; often contrasted with a…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) stalker is about 9.8 times as common as stocker.
What is the difference between stalker and stocker?
| stalker | stocker | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | A person who engages in stalking, i.e., quietly approaching animals to be hunted; a tracker or guide in hunting game A person who secretly follows someone, sometimes with unlawful intentions | Livestock that is wintered and then sold in the spring; often contrasted with a feeder when the focus is on intended disposition A racecar in certain classes of auto racing whose origins are nominally or notionally related to factory-stock autos, such as stock car racing or super-stock… |
| Example | none recorded | Will you keep those calves as feeders or only as stockers? |
| Forms | stalkers | stockers |
| Pronunciation | /ˈstɔːkə(ɹ)/ /ˈstaːkɐ/ | /ˈstɑkɚ/ /ˈstɒkə/ |
| In writing | 2.8 times per million words | about once in every 3 million words |
Sources: stalker and stocker in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of stalker and stocker
stalker
- 1
A person who engages in stalking, i.e., quietly approaching animals to be hunted; a tracker or guide in hunting game
- 2
A person who secretly follows someone, sometimes with unlawful intentions
- 3
Any of various devices for removing the stalk from plants during harvesting
- 4
Any bird that walks with a stalking motion
- 5
A horse that tends to stay just behind the leaders in a race
stocker
- 1
Livestock that is wintered and then sold in the spring; often contrasted with a feeder when the focus is on intended disposition
Will you keep those calves as feeders or only as stockers?
- 2
A racecar in certain classes of auto racing whose origins are nominally or notionally related to factory-stock autos, such as stock car racing or super-stock drag racing
Any small-block Chevy engine, whether it be a stocker, street rod, or racer, will benefit from proper balancing
- 3
One who crafts gun stocks
- 4
One who stocks shelves with inventory
- 5
One who supplies raw material to a machine
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, stalker or stocker?
stalker appears 2.8 times per million words; stocker about once in every 3 million words.
stalker 2.8 times per million wordsstocker about once in every 3 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).