A stool is a seat with no back and no arms. A tall seat at a bar counter is also a stool: a bar stool. An ordinary seat with a back is a chair, and so is the seat you use at your desk: an office chair.
stool: will you get the meaning right?
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sit on + a stool; a bar/kitchen/piano/folding + stool; pull up + a stool; an office/kitchen + chair (a seat with a back)
- We sat on tall stools at the bar and watched the second half of the match.
- I keep a small folding stool in the car for fishing trips.
- Our kitchen is tiny, so we have two stools instead of proper chairs.
What changed
First versionI bought a comfortable office stool with armrests for working from home.
RevisionI bought a comfortable office chair with armrests for working from home.
In several languages the everyday word for a chair sounds like stool, so it's easy to use stool where English needs chair. But a stool never has a back or armrests, so office stool with armrests sounds contradictory. A seat with a back for one person is a chair: an office chair, a kitchen chair.
Stool also has a medical meaning: faeces. It comes up in medical tests and conversations with a doctor: The doctor asked me to bring a stool sample. In everyday life, stool almost always means a seat without a back.
Your turn
My back aches after a long day at the computer, so I need a ___ I can lean back in.
Show the answer
chair — The person wants to lean back, and for that you need a backrest. A chair has one. A stool has no back, so you can't lean back on it.
Describe the place where you usually work or study. Say what you sit on, a chair or a stool, and whether it's comfortable.
At home I study at the kitchen counter on a tall wooden stool, and after an hour my back starts to hurt.
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