stool pigeon
a spy
TRANSLATION
stool pigeon = der Lockvogel, der Spitzel --- GOOGLE INDEX stool pigeon: approximately 120,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Deputy Police Commissioner Dougherty denied yesterday that he had authorized Benjamin Levy, the STOOL PIGEON who testified before the Curran Committee on Friday, to commit a burglary in order to catch three thieves.
(New York Times)
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An attorney for accused cocaine gang leader Rayful Edmond III tried to characterise the prosecution's star witness as a STOOL PIGEON.
(The Washington Post)
(New York Times)
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An attorney for accused cocaine gang leader Rayful Edmond III tried to characterise the prosecution's star witness as a STOOL PIGEON.
(The Washington Post)
Did you
know?
stool pigeon
slang phrase
- a person acting as a decoy or as an informer, especially one who is a spy for the police
(American Heritage Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
According to the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, stool pigeon has been used for more than a century in the underworld for a person who betrays his partners in crime, usually by informing on them. The stool pigeon is often a decoy planted by the police. The name comes from the fact that pigeons were often tied to stools to serve as decoys for other pigeons.
As an article in the USA Today newspaper points out, even parrots can be stool pigeons. After three thieves believed a pet parrot might "talk" to the police, they returned to the scene of the crime to silence the bird — only to be caught.
After making off with DVD players, computers, radios, TVs and other electronic gear, one of the burglars realised that a parrot in the home had heard him use the nickname "J.J." for one of his accomplices and was repeating it.
"They were afraid the bird would stool on them," said a police spokesperson.
The thieves went back for the bird and were loading it into the getaway car when police arrived. The chase ended a few blocks away when the men crashed their car. The light-green parrot, a 6-year-old bird named Marshmallow, unfortunately flew away when its cage broke open in the crash.
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SYNONYMS
informer, betrayer, blabbermouth, canary, deep throat, double-crosser, fink, informant, rat, sneak, snitcher, source, squealer, stoolie, tattler, tattletale, tipster, turncoat, weasel, whistle-blower
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"I don't know how our competitor could undercut our price-list, unless we have a stool pigeon among us."
slang phrase
- a person acting as a decoy or as an informer, especially one who is a spy for the police
(American Heritage Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
According to the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, stool pigeon has been used for more than a century in the underworld for a person who betrays his partners in crime, usually by informing on them. The stool pigeon is often a decoy planted by the police. The name comes from the fact that pigeons were often tied to stools to serve as decoys for other pigeons.
As an article in the USA Today newspaper points out, even parrots can be stool pigeons. After three thieves believed a pet parrot might "talk" to the police, they returned to the scene of the crime to silence the bird — only to be caught.
After making off with DVD players, computers, radios, TVs and other electronic gear, one of the burglars realised that a parrot in the home had heard him use the nickname "J.J." for one of his accomplices and was repeating it.
"They were afraid the bird would stool on them," said a police spokesperson.
The thieves went back for the bird and were loading it into the getaway car when police arrived. The chase ended a few blocks away when the men crashed their car. The light-green parrot, a 6-year-old bird named Marshmallow, unfortunately flew away when its cage broke open in the crash.
---
SYNONYMS
informer, betrayer, blabbermouth, canary, deep throat, double-crosser, fink, informant, rat, sneak, snitcher, source, squealer, stoolie, tattler, tattletale, tipster, turncoat, weasel, whistle-blower
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"I don't know how our competitor could undercut our price-list, unless we have a stool pigeon among us."
