Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
A kind of chair to which a person (such as a scold or dishonest tradesman) was fastened in order to be punished and socially humiliated, usually by being pelted and hooted at by a mob in front of their own house, but sometimes being taken to water and ducked.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
an instrument of punishment consisting of a chair in which offenders were ducked in water
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: ducking stool
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: instrument of punishment
History
From about 1215. Origin uncertain. The variant ducking stool is a later (from 1597) corruption. The meaning of cuck here may be a long obsolete nursery word for feces, as reflected in Old English cac, defying sound changes as have words like Mama and Papa. The chair was once described as Latin cathedra stercoris; why, though, this punishment should have this name has not been convincingly explained.
