stool: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
C1Neutral to formal in the seat sense; informal/medical in the faecal sense.
Quick answer
What does “stool” mean?
A seat without a back or arms, typically resting on three or four legs.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A seat without a back or arms, typically resting on three or four legs.
A piece of excrement; a sample of faeces for medical examination. Also, a root or stump of a tree that sends up new shoots.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Minimal. Both varieties use all senses. The 'faecal sample' sense is common in medical contexts in both.
Connotations
In both, the primary connotation is of a simple, often utilitarian seat (e.g., bar stool, piano stool). The faecal sense is clinical/vulgar depending on register.
Frequency
The 'seat' sense is far more frequent in general discourse. The 'faecal' sense is frequent in medical/health contexts.
Grammar
How to Use “stool” in a Sentence
sit on a stoolprovide a stool samplefall off the stoolVocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “stool” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- The coppiced trees will stool vigorously in the spring.
- The doctor asked the patient to stool into the container.
American English
- The hazel shrubs stool well after cutting.
- The lab needs you to stool for the test.
adverb
British English
- N/A
American English
- N/A
adjective
British English
- N/A
American English
- N/A
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Rare, except in furniture retail (e.g., 'bar stools for the new restaurant').
Academic
Used in medical/biological papers ('stool samples were analyzed'). Also in historical/design contexts ('a medieval joint stool').
Everyday
Common for furniture ('Pull up a stool'). The faecal sense is common in parent-child or medical discussions.
Technical
Precise use in medicine ('blood in the stool'), forestry ('tree stool' for a stump), and mycology ('mushroom growing from a stool').
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “stool”
- Using 'stool' to mean any chair (it lacks a back).
- Confusing 'stool' (faeces) with 'urine' or 'blood test'.
- Misusing the idiom 'fall between two stools' for simple physical falling.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but specifically a seat without a back or arms. All stools are seats, but not all chairs are stools.
It's a metonymy from 'close-stool' (a medieval toilet chair/box), where the term transferred from the furniture to its contents.
In medical or polite everyday contexts (e.g., with children), it is the standard, neutral term. In casual adult talk, cruder synonyms are often used.
Yes, but rarely. In forestry/gardening, it means for a cut plant to send up new shoots. In medicine, it can be used to mean 'defecate'.
A seat without a back or arms, typically resting on three or four legs.
Stool is usually neutral to formal in the seat sense; informal/medical in the faecal sense. in register.
Stool: in British English it is pronounced /stuːl/, and in American English it is pronounced /stuːl/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “fall between two stools (to fail due to indecision between two courses of action)”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a TOOL you SIT on – a STOOL. Both have a simple, functional purpose.
Conceptual Metaphor
LOW STATUS/UTILITY IS A STOOL (vs. a 'chair' or 'throne'). INSTABILITY/INDECISION IS FALLING BETWEEN TWO STOOLS.
Practice
Quiz
What does the idiom 'to fall between two stools' mean?