stool

American  

[stool] / stul /

noun

1. a single seat on legs or a pedestal and without arms or a back.

2. a short, low support on which to stand, step, kneel, or rest the feet while sitting.

3. Horticulture. the stump, base, or root of a plant from which propagative organs are produced, as shoots for layering.

4. the base of a plant that annually produces new stems or shoots.

5. a cluster of shoots or stems springing up from such a base or from any root, or a single shoot or layer.

6. a bird fastened to a pole or perch and used as a decoy.

7. an artificial duck or other bird, usually made from wood, used as a decoy by hunters.

8. a privy.

9. the fecal matter evacuated at each movement of the bowels.

10. the sill of a window.

11. a bishop's seat considered as symbolic of his authority; see.

12. the sacred chair of certain African chiefs, symbolic of their kingship.

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verb (used without object)

1. to put forth shoots from the base or root, as a plant; form a stool.

2. Slang. to turn informer; serve as a stool pigeon.

idioms

1. fall between two stools, to fail, through hesitation or indecision, to select either of two alternatives.

stool British  

/ stuːl /

noun

1. a backless seat or footrest consisting of a small flat piece of wood, etc, resting on three or four legs, a pedestal, etc

2. a rootstock or base of a plant, usually a woody plant, from which shoots, etc, are produced

3. a cluster of shoots growing from such a base

4. a decoy used in hunting

5. waste matter evacuated from the bowels

6. a lavatory seat

7. (in W Africa, esp Ghana) a chief's throne

8. 1. to fail through vacillation between two alternatives

   2. to be in an unsatisfactory situation through not belonging to either of two categories or groups

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verb

1. (of a plant) to send up shoots from the base of the stem, rootstock, etc

2. to lure wildfowl with a decoy

stool More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing stool

• fall between the cracks (two stools)

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Other Word Forms

• stoollike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of stool

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English stōl; cognate with German Stuhl, Old Norse stōll, Gothic stols “chair”; all are from unattested Germanic stō- (from Indo-European root of stand ) + -l- suffix (unattested); akin to Old Church Slavonic stolŭ “throne”

Example Sentences

Stool samples were used to identify bacterial species by isolating 16S RNA, a molecule unique to bacteria that varies slightly between species, much like a fingerprint.

From Science Daily • Feb. 25, 2026

She suggests, "One useful resource that we use in medicine that can be used at home is the Bristol Stool Chart. You can review the chart to evaluate how your bowels are doing."

From Salon • Oct. 2, 2023

However, in 1900 the British Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Frederick Hodgson, demanded to sit on the Golden Stool and ordered soldiers to hunt for it.

From BBC • Apr. 27, 2023

In a paper published last month and titled “The Three-Legged Stool: A Manifesto for a Smaller, Denser Internet,” Mr. Zuckerman and other academics outlined how future companies could run small networks at low costs.

From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2023

Two leave the room, two others lead Janine to the Birthing Stool, where she sits on the lower of the two seats.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood