ducking stool
Water-based humiliation chair
A ducking stool was a chair attached to a long beam, used in Europe and colonial America to punish scolds, witches, and other offenders by repeatedly plunging them into water.
The victim was strapped in and dunked in a pond or river, sometimes to the point of drowning.
The device fell out of use by the early nineteenth century.
Small still body
- riverLarge flowing watercourse
- submersionBeing entirely underwater
- immersionState of being submerged
- dunkingBrief submersion in liquid
plunge · splash · soaked · drenched · float · sink · chair · beam
Ownership stakes or inventory
- pilloryPublic punishment restraint
- public humiliationDeliberate degradation before witnesses
- chastisementFormal scolding or correction
- corporal punishmentInflicting pain as penalty
penance · sentence · flogging · shaming · spectacle · crowd · jeering · village green
Legal proceedings against alleged sorcerers
- accusationClaim someone did wrong
- sorceryPractice of dark magic
- heresyBelief opposing official doctrine
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
confession · Salem · swimming test · ordeal · innocent · guilty · floating · sinking
Harsh verbal criticism
- shrewIll-tempered woman, or insectivore
- gossipInformal talk spreading rumors
- naggingPersistent bothering or complaining
- quarrelsomeInclined to dispute
sharp-tongued · women · silencing · misogyny · domestic · neighbor disputes · slander · reputation
pond
Small still body
- riverLarge flowing watercourse
- submersionBeing entirely underwater
- immersionState of being submerged
dunking · plunge · splash · soaked · drenched · float · sink · chair · beam · wooden
stocks
Ownership stakes or inventory
- pilloryPublic punishment restraint
- public humiliationDeliberate degradation before witnesses
- chastisementFormal scolding or correction
corporal punishment · penance · sentence · flogging · shaming · spectacle · crowd · jeering · village green · town square
witch trials
Legal proceedings against alleged sorcerers
- accusationClaim someone did wrong
- sorceryPractice of dark magic
- heresyBelief opposing official doctrine
persecution · confession · Salem · swimming test · ordeal · innocent · guilty · floating · sinking · cunning folk
scolding
Harsh verbal criticism
- shrewIll-tempered woman, or insectivore
- gossipInformal talk spreading rumors
- naggingPersistent bothering or complaining
quarrelsome · sharp-tongued · women · silencing · misogyny · domestic · neighbor disputes · slander · reputation · community
- witchcraftwitch, spell, spellwork, witches, spells
- medieval justicetrial by combat, trial by ordeal, trial by fire, trial by jury, ordeal
- punishmentsjail, prison, timeout, grounded, fine
- witch huntswitch trials, witch hunt, witch hunts, Salem witch trials, Salem trials
- punishment toolswhip, chains, shackles, rack, stocks
- shaming devicespillory, stocks, scarlet letter, dunce cap, fool's cap
ducking stoolexoneration
Official clearing of blame
throne · seat of honor · royal pardon · acquittal · vindication
ducking stoolsickbed
Place for the ill
cradle · sedan chair · litter · palanquin · pillory
ducking stoolpillory
Public punishment restraint
stocks · burning at the stake · gallows · whipping post · branding iron
duck, stool, stools, ducks, ducking, ducked, dunked, dunks, dunker