stool pigeon
A pigeon tied to a stool by a piece of twine, used as a decoy to entice free-flying…A pigeon tied to a stool by a piece of twine, used as a decoy to entice free-flying birds to the ground to be shot or trapped.
Meaning
3 sensesA pigeon tied to a stool by a piece of twine, used as a decoy to entice free-flying birds to the ground to be shot or trapped.
a dummy pigeon used to decoy others
(slang)An informer to the authorities, especially one who gives up criminal associates.
(obsolete, slang)A decoy used in a crooked gambling game.
Lockvogel, Spitzel
наседкаnasedka, подсадная у́ткаpodsadnaja útka
Translations
5 languagesOrigin
From the act of tying or even nailing a pigeon to a stool to act as a decoy by hunters. AlFrom the act of tying or even nailing a pigeon to a stool to act as a decoy by hunters. Alternatively, from an alteration of stale (“decoy”) + pigeon.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: stool pigeons| Singular | stool pigeon |
|---|---|
| Plural | stool pigeons |
regular
Synonyms
46 synonymsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.