Cucking stool

Cucking stool
Cucking stool Cuck"ing stool` (k?k"?ng st??l`). [Cf. AS. scealfingst[=o]l, a word of similar meaning, allied to scealfor a diver, mergus avis; or possibly from F. coquine a hussy, slut, jade, f. of coquin, OE. cokin, a rascal; or cf. Icel. k?ka to dung, k?kr dung, the name being given as to a disgracing or infamous punishment.] A kind of chair formerly used for punishing scolds, and also dishonest tradesmen, by fastening them in it, usually in front of their doors, to be pelted and hooted at by the mob, but sometimes to be taken to the water and ducked; -- called also a {castigatory}, a {tumbrel}, and a {trebuchet}; and often, but not so correctly, a {ducking stool}. --Sir. W. Scott. [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • cucking stool — early 13c., from cuck to void excrement, from O.N. kuka feces (the chair was sometimes in the form of a close stool). Also known as trebucket and castigatory, it was used on disorderly women and fraudulent tradesmen, either in the form of public… …   Etymology dictionary

  • cucking stool — [kuk′iŋ] n. [ME coking stole, lit., toilet seat < ME coken < OIce kuka, to defecate: the instrument was orig. made like a toilet seat to heighten the indignity] Historical a chair to which a person was fastened and exposed to public… …   English World dictionary

  • Cucking stool — Ducking stool at Leominster. Last used in 1809 …   Wikipedia

  • cucking stool — /kuk ing/ a former instrument of punishment consisting of a chair in which an offender was strapped, to be mocked and pelted or ducked in water. [1175 1225; ME cucking stol, lit., defecating stool, equiv. to cucking, prp. of cukken to defecate (… …   Universalium

  • cucking stool — cuck′ing stool [[t]ˈkʌk ɪŋ[/t]] n. an instrument of punishment consisting of a chair in which an offender was strapped, to be mocked or ducked in water • Etymology: 1175–1225; ME cucking stol lit., defecating stool …   From formal English to slang

  • cucking stool — /ˈkʌkɪŋ stul/ (say kuking stoohl) noun a former instrument of punishment consisting of a chair in which an offender was strapped, to be jeered at and pelted by the crowd, or, sometimes, to be ducked. See ducking stool. {Middle English cuking stol …  

  • cucking-stool — An engine of correction for common scolds, which in the Saxon language is said to signify the scolding stool, though now it is frequently corrupted into ducking stool, because the judgment was that, when the woman was placed therein, she should… …   Black's law dictionary

  • cucking-stool — An engine of correction for common scolds, which in the Saxon language is said to signify the scolding stool, though now it is frequently corrupted into ducking stool, because the judgment was that, when the woman was placed therein, she should… …   Black's law dictionary

  • cucking-stool —  , ducking stool  a stool placed over a river in which scolding women are seated and ducked. North …   A glossary of provincial and local words used in England

  • cucking stool — noun Etymology: Middle English cucking stol, literally, defecating chair Date: 12th century a chair formerly used for punishing offenders (as dishonest tradesmen) by public exposure or ducking in water …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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