tool

Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.

Noun

  1. Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.
    • Several prehistoric tools, including a stone ax, were found during the dig.
    • A screwdriver is a tool that no household should be without.
    • A stapler is a tool for attaching papers to others.

    1. Any piece of equipment used in a profession, such as a craftsman's.

      • the tools of the trade
      • Rakes, shovels, hoes, and spades are some of the tools of the gardener's trade.
      • I don't have the right tools to start fiddling around with the engine.
  2. Anything that aids someone to perform an operation; an instrument; a means.
    • Idleness is a tool of the devil.
    • A spreadsheet app and a bookkeeping app are some of the principal tools of a bookkeeper.
    • What was the need of a man to do that? "One stick at a time;" if Ned could not do that, he was a poor tool. Ah, a poor tool he proved to be. - 1867, The Masonic Trowel, volume 6, page 44:
  3. A piece of software used to develop software or hardware, or to perform low-level operations.
    • The software engineer had been developing lots of EDA tools.
    • a tool for recovering deleted files from a disk

    Hypernyms: application program

  4. A person or group which is used or controlled, usually unwittingly, by another person or group, a pawn.
    • She was a tool of the pharmaceutical lobby.
    • He was a tool of a foreign influence operation.
  5. A particular skill pertaining to baseball (such as hitting, running, etc.).
    • a five-tool player
    • When asked what he liked about Youk [Kevin Youkilis], former Boston scout Matt Haas says, "At first glance, not a lot." (Mind you, this is one of the few scouts who actually wanted the kid.) "He was unorthodox," says...
  6. A penis, notably with a sexual or erotic connotation.
    • Or haue wee some strange Indian with the great Toole, come to Court, the women so besiege vs? - 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr....
    • She wanna hang with the goons She wanna party midnight till noon She wanna play with my tool - 2019 January 2, Burna Bandz, “Goons” (track 13), in Compact Burna:

    Synonyms: anaconda baloney pony bald-headed hermit banana birdie bobby boonga cack choad choda chode chopper cigar cock corey crank cucumber custard launcher D dick dicklet diddle diddly dingaling

  7. An obnoxious or uptight person.
    • He won't sell us tickets because it's 3:01, and they went off sale at 3. That guy's such a tool.

    Synonyms: assbag assbreath assbucket asscunt assface assfag assfaggot assfuck assfucker asshat asshead asshole assmonkey assmouth assmunch assmuncher asstard asswagon assweed asswipe bag of dicks ball sack ballsucker barf bag

  8. A handgun.
    • In my city keep a tool Lil nigga you know the rules - 2019 January 2, Burna Bandz, “Goons” (track 13), in Compact Burna:
    • Three waps up and a couple of shanks (Just in case) But I got faith that these tools won't jam - 2020 November 19, (67) PR SAD, “One Wish” (1:41 from the start):

    Synonyms: weapon arm armament

Origin

From Middle English tool, tol, from Old English tōl (“tool, implement, instrument”, literally “that with which one prepares something”), perhaps borrowed from Old Norse tól, but at any rate ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tōlą (“that which is used in preparation, tool”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to tie to, secure”), equivalent to taw (“to prepare”) + -le (agent suffix). Cognate with Scots tuil (“tool, implement, instrument, device”), Icelandic tól (“tool”), Faroese tól (“tool, instrument”). Related to Old English tāwian (“to make, prepare, or cultivate”); see taw, and tow ("fibres used for spinning").

Forms

tools

Synonyms

tool

Hyponyms

adze axe billhook blade bolt cutter broach ceramic tile cutter chisel coping saw countersink diamond blade diamond tool drill bit endmill file fretsaw froe glass cutter grater hacksaw hand saw knife machete miter saw

Related

instrument device :Category:Tools

Derived

Autotools claw tool course authoring tool criminal tool crimping tool deburring tool down tools dry-tool edge tool entrenching tool E-tool e-tool fine adjustment tool five-tool five tool player five-tool player go back to the tools grafting tool Halligan tool hand tool hive tool hooligan tool Hurst tool Jacot tool

Verb

  1. To work on or shape with tools, e.g., hand-tooled leather.
  2. To equip with tools.
  3. To work very hard.
    • Do this lab and read this book, now tool, one and all, And be sure and pass that final quiz or be screwed right to the wall. - 1965, Matt Fichtenbaum, Dan Murphy, “The Institute Screw”, in The Broadside of Boston,...
  4. To put down another person (possibly in a subtle, hidden way), and in that way to use him or her to meet a goal.
    • Dude, he's not your friend. He's just tooling you.
  5. To intentionally attack the ball so that it deflects off a blocker out of bounds.
  6. To drive (a coach or other vehicle).
  7. To carry or convey in a coach or other vehicle.
    • 1850s, Cuthbert M. Bede, The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green Among those who seemed disposed to join in this opinion was the Jehu of the Warwickshire coach, who expressed his conviction to our hero, that "he wos a young...
  8. To travel in a vehicle; to ride or drive.
    • March 8, 1890, Byron P. Stephenson, "My Trip to Brazil", in Illustrated American boys on their bicycles tooling along the well-kept roads
    • These are the guys that tool around in Mercedes Sprinter vans with equipment lockers stuffed with everything from riot helmets to tasers. - 2011, Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London, Gollancz, published 2011, page 324:

Forms

tools tooling tooled

Synonyms

use

Derived

tool around