stool
n
1 (often in compounds 常用以构成复合词) seat without a back or arms, usu for one person 凳子(通常指单人的)
a `bar stool 酒吧间的高凳
a `piano stool 弹钢琴坐的凳子
sitting on stools around the table 坐在桌子四周的凳子上. =>illus at App 1 见附录1插图, page xvi.
2 = footstool (foot1).
3 (usu pl 通常作复数) (medical or fml 医或文) (piece of) solid waste from the body; faeces 大便; 粪便.
4 (idm 习语) fall between two `stools fail to be or take either of two satisfactory alternatives 两头落空
The author seems uncertain whether he is writing a comedy or a tragedy, so the play falls between two stools. 作者似乎拿不定主意是写喜剧还是写悲剧, 致使这个剧非驴非马.
On the subject of reading, Francis Bacon, who lived at about the same time as shakespeare, wrote these words, Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. This good advice shows how it is possible to read