Dictionary-Definition.com :: Stool pigeon definition

Definition of 'stool pigeon'

noun

Someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police [syn: fink, snitch, snitcher, stoolpigeon, stool pigeon, stoolie, sneak, sneaker, canary]

noun

A dummy pigeon used to decoy others

From: GCIDE

Stool \Stool\, n. [AS. st[=o]l a seat; akin to OFries. & OS. st[=o]l, D. stoel, G. stuhl, OHG. stuol, Icel. st[=o]ll, Sw. & Dan. stol, Goth. st[=o]ls, Lith. stalas a table, Russ. stol'; from the root of E. stand. [root]163. See Stand, and cf. Fauteuil.]
1. A single seat with three or four legs and without a back, made in various forms for various uses. [1913 Webster]
2. A seat used in evacuating the bowels; hence, an evacuation; a discharge from the bowels. [1913 Webster]
3. A stool pigeon, or decoy bird. [U. S.] [1913 Webster]
4. (Naut.) A small channel on the side of a vessel, for the dead-eyes of the backstays. --Totten. [1913 Webster]
5. A bishop's seat or see; a bishop-stool. --J. P. Peters. [1913 Webster]
6. A bench or form for resting the feet or the knees; a footstool; as, a kneeling stool. [1913 Webster]
7. Material, such as oyster shells, spread on the sea bottom for oyster spat to adhere to. [Local, U.S.] [1913 Webster]
Stool of a window, or Window stool (Arch.), the flat piece upon which the window shuts down, and which corresponds to the sill of a door; in the United States, the narrow shelf fitted on the inside against the actual sill upon which the sash descends. This is called a window seat when broad and low enough to be used as a seat.
Stool of repentance, the cuttystool. [Scot.]
Stool pigeon, a pigeon used as a decoy to draw others within a net; hence, a person used as a decoy for others. [1913 Webster]