tool
Americannoun
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tools
plural
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an implement, especially one held in the hand, as a hammer, saw, or file, for performing or facilitating mechanical operations.
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any instrument of manual operation.
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the cutting or machining part of a lathe, planer, drill, or similar machine.
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the machine itself; a machine tool.
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anything used as a means of accomplishing a task or purpose.
Education is a tool for success.
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a person manipulated by another for the latter's own ends; cat's-paw.
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the design or ornament impressed upon the cover of a book.
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Underworld Slang.
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a pistol or gun.
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a pickpocket.
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Slang: Vulgar. penis.
verb (used with object)
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tools,
present (3rd person singular)
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tooled,
past participle, past
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tooling
present participle
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to work or shape with a tool.
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to work decoratively with a hand tool.
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to ornament (the cover of a book) with a bookbinder's tool.
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to drive (a vehicle).
He tooled the car along the treacherous path.
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to equip with tools or machinery.
verb (used without object)
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tools,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tooled,
past participle, past
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tooling
present participle
-
to work with a tool.
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to drive or ride in a vehicle.
tooling along the freeway.
verb phrase
noun
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an implement, such as a hammer, saw, or spade, that is used by hand
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a power-driven instrument; machine tool
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( in combination )
a toolkit
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the cutting part of such an instrument
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any of the instruments used by a bookbinder to impress a design on a book cover
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a design so impressed
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anything used as a means of performing an operation or achieving an end
he used his boss's absence as a tool for gaining influence
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a person used to perform dishonourable or unpleasant tasks for another
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a necessary medium for or adjunct to one's profession
numbers are the tools of the mathematician's trade
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slang another word for penis
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an underworld slang word for gun
verb
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to work, cut, shape, or form (something) with a tool or tools
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(tr) to decorate (a book cover) with a bookbinder's tool
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to furnish with tools
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to drive (a vehicle) or (of a vehicle) to be driven, esp in a leisurely or casual style
Usage
What are other ways to say tool? The word tool usually refers to a handheld object, such as a hammer, saw, or file, that is used to perform or facilitate mechanical operations. When should you use this noun over instrument, implement, or utensil? Learn more on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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toolsimple
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toolssimple
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have tooledperfect
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has tooledperfect
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am toolingprogressive
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are toolingprogressive
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is toolingprogressive
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have been toolingperfect progressive
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has been toolingperfect progressive
Past
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tooledsimple
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had tooledperfect
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was toolingprogressive
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were toolingprogressive
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had been toolingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tool
First recorded before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English tōl; cognate with Old Norse tōl “tools”; akin to taw 2
Explanation
A tool is an instrument that you use to help you accomplish some task. If you are going to build a bookcase, you'll need the proper tools, like a saw, a drill, and a tape measure. A tool is also something that you use to perform the duties of a certain profession. The tools of a kindergarten teacher's trade include construction paper, glue sticks, and safety scissors. As a verb, tool can mean to drive aimlessly just for fun, the way you might tool around town in your convertible on a beautiful summer day.
Vocabulary lists containing tool
"The First Day of School," Vocabulary from the short story
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"When Cultures Meet"
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The Stone Age - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The new tool, known as the BioTAK score, combines biological sex with several blood biomarkers linked to different processes in the cardiovascular system.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
He added the tool would only ever be used as a last resort.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Technology is used as spectacle as much as a tool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
It is one moment, but James applies every tool he has as a super maximalist to it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
After each use, they were to be cleaned, oiled if necessary, and put away in their proper place — and each tool had only one proper place.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
Chambers said he worked with volunteers to distribute sleeping bags, water purification tools, food and essentials to communities cut off by collapsed bridges, travelling to the area by helicopter.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
“Law enforcement deserves the tools they need to keep us safe.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
“It’s taking the government’s supervision and enforcement tools and figuring out how you can use them the way the Reaganites used them,” Pierce said.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026
"This directly explains the presence of bows, arrows, and maces in the women's tombs; these were not just symbolic gifts but tools they actively used."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
Brigit's eyelids fluttered and Ella knew she was combing through everything. “...like vials and tools and one of those weird pocket-boxes...”
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Even if Congress voted the funds tomorrow for 10,000 new interceptors, the metal and the gas would still have to be found, the workforce trained, and the production lines tooled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Period satirical adventure comedies with thieves as heroes, tooled with a British or Australian sense of humor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2024
Ukraine's factories have tooled up to make equipment to help keep the sappers safer.
From Reuters ● Aug. 3, 2023
Rowe started back up in July 2020 with a four-episode run of “Dirty Jobs: Rowe’d Trip,” in which he tooled around the country in an RV, and the main show returned in January 2022.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 12, 2022
They are more like perfectly tooled but crazy little machines, and we violate science when we try to read human meanings in their arrangements.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
"Autonomous, AI-driven offensive tooling is no longer theoretical," it said.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Yet the only reason he’s out here racking up steps by the hundreds on a recent morning is because he was tooling around in his sculpture studio before I arrived.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Enterprise products are currently more likely to opt in to other models with clear controls, compliance tooling, auditability, data-governance guarantees and workflow integrations.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026
But it does provide the tooling on top to make sure that the visuals are consistent across all the incoming generations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
It was November 1982, and I was tooling down Virginia State Route 460 in my green 1972 Volkswagen at four A.M.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
