n. & v.
n. 1 a seat without a back or arms, usu. for one person and consisting of a wooden slab on three or four short legs. 2 a = FOOTSTOOL. b a low bench for kneeling on. 3 (usu. in pl.) = FAECES. 4 the root or stump of a tree or plant from which the shoots spring. 5 US a decoy-bird in hunting.
v.intr. (of a plant) throw up shoots from the root. fall between two stools fail from vacillation between two courses etc. stool-pigeon 1 a person acting as a decoy (orig. a decoy of a pigeon fixed to a stool). 2 a police informer.
[ OE stol f. Gmc, rel. to STAND ]