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)

stools, present (3rd person singular) stooled, past participle, past stooling present participle

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

Derived Forms

• stoollike
  adjective

Conjugated Forms

Present

• has stooled
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have stooled
  perfect
• has been stooling
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• are stooling
  progressive
• is stooling
  progressive 3rd person singular
• am stooling
  progressive 1st person singular
• have been stooling
  perfect progressive
• stooling
  participle
• stools
  singular 3rd person

Past

• had stooled
  perfect
• was stooling
  progressive singular
• had been stooling
  perfect progressive
• were stooling
  progressive plural
• stooled
  participle
• stooled
  simple

Future

• will stool
  simple
• will have stooled
  perfect
• will be stooling
  progressive
• will have been stooling
  perfect progressive

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

For the Americans thinking 83% sounds like a good-enough option to avoid a colonoscopy or a stool test, think again.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 4, 2026

I end my visit to Trump Doral sitting on a stool upholstered with burgundy leather and dark oak at Champions Bar and Grill, the central social club on the Trump Doral campus.

From Slate • Jun. 2, 2026

A post mortem examination found Lois died from a sudden and severe lack of oxygen to her vital organs, likely caused by breathing in her first stool, and the onset of bacterial infection.

From BBC • May 11, 2026

Christopher Burston, a 73-year-old patient from Portland, Dorset, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in February 2023 after routine screening detected blood in his stool.

From Science Daily • May 6, 2026

The snow-white ring, the height of the stools, and the distance between each stool was so perfect I could have sworn that someone had planted them.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls