Blue'-stŏck'ing, n.
n. 1. A literary lady; a female pedant. [Colloq.]
This term is derived from the name given to certain meetings held by ladies, in the days of Dr. Johnson, for conversation with distinguished literary men. One of the most eminent members was a Mr. Stillingfleet, who always wore blue stockings, and who was so much distinguished for his conversational powers that his absence at any time was felt to be a great loss, so that the remark became common, “We can do nothing without the blue stockings.” Hence these meetings were sportively called blue-stocking clubs, and the ladies who attended them, blue-stockings. Boswell.
Sense 2. (Ornith.) The American avocet (Recurvirostra Americana), a bird of the Northern States. Bartlett.