Yes Oho "all but immobile" does mean almost immobile. If you have a task and you are
all but done you lack just a few finishing touches to make the job complete.
And does "to stock an expedition" mean "to organize and expedition"?
Not really. A grocer will stock his shelves, meaning that he will put his goods on the shelves. If the grocer doesn't have a particular item he may tell you " it's out of stock" meaning that he does carry that item but he doesn't have any in the store at that moment. He will have to order more of that item from his supplier. So. regarding "stocking an expedition" - it has more to do with making sure you have the physical things you will need. rather than contacting people to take part in the expedition.
Stock probably related to Dutch
stuk and German
Stück meaning piece.
So then I got curious as to how the Danes would express the idea of
a piece and it turns out that they use
stykke no doubt a cognate of the English word
stick. I didn't mention it before but this whole
stock thing goes back to trees and wood. The part of a rifle that you put to your shoulder is the
stock and if you say: "he comes from good stock" it means that you approve of his family tree. The Norwegian word for
piece is the same as the Danish
stykke. So how would a Norwegian say
a stick? I'm not sure but a walking stick is a
spaserstokk ....