[kuhk-ing] 
| a former instrument of punishment consisting of a chair in which an offender was strapped, to be mocked and pelted or ducked in water. |
| cuck·ing stool (kŭk'ĭng) n. An instrument of punishment no longer in use, consisting of a chair in which the offender was tied and exposed to public derision or ducked in water. [Middle English cukking stol, from cukken, to defecate, of Scandinavian origin; see kakka- in Indo-European roots.] |
cucking stool
a method of punishment by means of humiliation, beating, or death. The cucking stool (also known as a "scolding stool" or a "stool of repentance") was in most cases a commode or toilet, placed in public view, upon which the targeted person was forced to sit-usually by restraint, and often while being paraded through the town. The consequences of the ducking stool were far more severe. In use in England by the 17th century, the apparatus consisted of a wooden or iron armchair onto which the culprit was strapped. The chair was attached to a long wooden beam, usually located alongside a pond or river, and was lowered into the water. Repeated duckings routinely proved fatal, the victim dying of shock or drowning.
Learn more about cucking stool with a free trial on Britannica.com.