tool

[ tool ]

/ tul /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tool ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an implement, especially one held in the hand, as a hammer, saw, or file, for performing or facilitating mechanical operations.

any instrument of manual operation.

the cutting or machining part of a lathe, planer, drill, or similar machine.

the machine itself; a machine tool.

anything used as a means of accomplishing a task or purpose: Education is a tool for success.

a person manipulated by another for the latter's own ends; cat's-paw.

the design or ornament impressed upon the cover of a book.

Underworld Slang.

a pistol or gun.
a pickpocket.

Slang: Vulgar. penis.

verb (used with object)

to work or shape with a tool.

to work decoratively with a hand tool.

to ornament (the cover of a book) with a bookbinder's tool.

to drive (a vehicle): He tooled the car along the treacherous path.

to equip with tools or machinery.

verb (used without object)

to work with a tool.

to drive or ride in a vehicle: tooling along the freeway.

Verb Phrases

tool up, to install machinery designed for performing a particular job: manufacturers tooling up for production.

Nearby words

Origin of tool

before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English tōl; cognate with Old Norse tōl tools; akin to taw²

SYNONYMS FOR tool

1. T ool , implement , instrument , utensil refer to contrivances for doing work. A tool is a contrivance held in and worked by the hand, for assisting the work of (especially) mechanics or laborers: a carpenter's tools. An implement is any tool or contrivance designed or used for a particular purpose: agricultural implements. An instrument is anything used in doing a certain work or producing a certain result, especially such as requires delicacy, accuracy, or precision: surgical or musical instruments. A utensil is especially an article for domestic use: kitchen utensils. When used figuratively of human agency, tool is generally used in a contemptuous sense; instrument , in a neutral or good sense: a tool of unscrupulous men; an instrument of Providence.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tool ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formstool·er, nountool·less, adjectivemul·ti·tool, nounun·tooled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tools

The United States has tools to impose costs on the North Koreans.
U.S. Should Make North Korea Pay for Sony Hack|Gordon G. Chang|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Elsewhere on the Internet, and often, Turkers butt heads over which tools work best, or what nation they hail from.
Amazon’s Turkers Kick Off the First Crowdsourced Labor Guild|Kevin Zawacki|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She began operating out of her home garage in 1980, slowly acquiring the many props and tools that would decorate her dungeon.
Whip It: Secrets of a Dominatrix|Justin Jones|November 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
No, the tools used are just old fashioned, and the images produced are drawings, hardly a new invention.
Blurred Lines at NY Sketchbook Museum|Daniel Genis|November 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST

After a while, you start to realize that they were just tools used by the leaders and the Politburo.
Putin’s Hockey Pal Tells All: Slava Fetisov on ‘Red Army,’ Soviet Nostalgia, and What Drives Putin|Marlow Stern|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Man is far superior in dealing with numbers and also with tools and mechanical things.
Psychology|Robert S. Woodworth
He refused to treat the matter lightly, but gathered up the tools with which he had been working.
Boy Scouts in the North Sea|G. Harvey Ralphson
It is easy to build a palace with men and tools; it is difficult to build a log cabin with nothing but an ax.
The Blazed Trail|Stewart Edward White
When the gold is pressed into the impressions of the tools with the pad of cotton-wool, they should be plainly visible through it.
Bookbinding, and the Care of Books|Douglas Cockerell
He opened the lid, searched among some tools which lay in the receptacle beneath, and took out a chisel.
The Dead Secret|Wilkie Collins

British Dictionary definitions for tools

tool

/ (tuːl) /

noun

an implement, such as a hammer, saw, or spade, that is used by hand
a power-driven instrument; machine tool
(in combination)a toolkit

the cutting part of such an instrument

any of the instruments used by a bookbinder to impress a design on a book cover
a design so impressed

anything used as a means of performing an operation or achieving an endhe used his boss's absence as a tool for gaining influence

a person used to perform dishonourable or unpleasant tasks for another

a necessary medium for or adjunct to one's professionnumbers are the tools of the mathematician's trade

slang another word for penis

British an underworld slang word for gun

verb

to work, cut, shape, or form (something) with a tool or tools

(tr) to decorate (a book cover) with a bookbinder's tool

(tr often foll by up) to furnish with tools

(when intr, often foll by along) to drive (a vehicle) or (of a vehicle) to be driven, esp in a leisurely or casual style

Derived Formstooler, nountool-less, adjective

Word Origin for tool

Old English tōl; related to Old Norse tōl weapon, Old English tawian to prepare; see taw ²

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tools

tool

Old English tol "instrument, implement," from Proto-Germanic *tolan (cf. Old Norse tol), from a verb stem represented by Old English tawian "prepare." The ending is the instrumental suffix -l (e.g. shovel). Figurative sense of "person used by another for his own ends" is recorded from 1660s. Slang meaning "penis" first recorded 1550s.

tool

"to drive a vehicle," 1812, probably from tool (n.). The meaning "to work or shape with a tool" is recorded from 1815; that of "equip (a factory) with machine tools" is from 1927. Related: Tooled; tooling.

tool

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

Verb Phrases

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Origin of tool

Examples from the Web for tools

tool

noun

verb

Word Origin for tool

tool

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