stool (redirected from stools)

fall between two stools

Fig. to come somewhere between two possibilities and so fail to meet the requirements of either. The material is not suitable for an academic book or for a popular one. It falls between two stools. He tries to be both teacher and friend, but falls between two stools.

See also: fall, two

stool (on someone)

Sl. to inform (on someone). Jane would stool on anybody, even her own mother. Somebody stooled and ruined the whole layout.

stool (pigeon) and stoolie

an informer. (Originally underworld.) Some stool pigeon spilled the works to the boys in blue. There's nothing I hate worse than a stoolie.

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a stool pigeon

a person, especially a criminal, who secretly gives information to the police in order to help them catch other criminals Once they discovered he was a stool pigeon, it was only a matter of time before they had him killed.

See also: pigeon

fall between two stools  (mainly British) also be caught between two stools (mainly British)

if something falls between two stools, it fails because it is neither one type of thing nor another and if someone falls between two stools, they fail because they try to combine two different types of thing that cannot be combined For me, it fell between two stools, being neither romantic fiction nor serious literature. If you try to organize an event that will appeal to both young and old, you can end up caught between two stools.

See also: fall, two