tool

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

tool

(to͞ol)

1. A device, such as a saw, shovel, or drill, used to perform or facilitate manual or mechanical work.

a. A machine, such as a lathe, used to cut and shape machine parts or other objects.

b. The cutting part of such a machine.

3. Something regarded as necessary to the carrying out of one's occupation or profession: Words are the tools of our trade.

4. Something used in the performance of an operation; an instrument: "Modern democracies have the fiscal and monetary tools ... to end chronic slumps and galloping inflations" (Paul A. Samuelson).

5. Vulgar Slang The penis.

6. A person used to carry out the designs of another; a dupe.

a. A bookbinder's hand stamp.

b. A design impressed on a book cover by such a stamp.

8. Computers A utility program.

v. tooled, tool·ing, tools

v.tr.

1. To form, work, or decorate with a tool.

2. To ornament (a book cover) with a bookbinder's tool.

3. Slang To drive (a vehicle): tooled the car at 80 miles an hour.

v.intr.

1. To work with a tool.

2. Slang To drive or ride in a vehicle: tooled up and down the roads.

Phrasal Verb:

tool up

To provide an industry or a factory with machinery and tools suitable for a particular job.

[Middle English, from Old English tōl, possibly from Old Norse.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tool

(tuːl)

1. (Tools)

a. an implement, such as a hammer, saw, or spade, that is used by hand

b. a power-driven instrument; machine tool

c. (in combination): a toolkit.

2. (Tools) the cutting part of such an instrument

3. (Tools)

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

b. a design so impressed

4. (Tools) 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.

5. a person used to perform dishonourable or unpleasant tasks for another

6. a necessary medium for or adjunct to one's profession: numbers are the tools of the mathematician's trade.

7. (Anatomy) slang another word for penis

8. informal a stupid, irritating, or contemptible man

9. (Firearms, Gunnery, Ordnance & Artillery) Brit an underworld slang word for gun

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

11. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) (tr) to decorate (a book cover) with a bookbinder's tool

12. (often foll by: up) to furnish with tools

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

[Old English tōl; related to Old Norse tōl weapon, Old English tawian to prepare; see taw²]

ˈtooler n

ˈtool-less adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tool

(tul)

n.

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

2. any instrument of manual operation.

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

4. the machine itself.

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

6. a person manipulated by another for the latter's own ends.

7. Slang.

a. a gun.

b. a pickpocket.

8. Slang: Sometimes Vulgar. penis.

v.t.

9. to work or shape with a tool.

10. to work decoratively with a hand tool.

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

12. to drive (a vehicle).

13. to equip with tools or machinery.

v.i.

14. to work with a tool.

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

16. tool up, to install machinery and tools for performing a job: manufacturers tooling up for production.

[before 900; Middle English (n.); Old English tōl, c. Old Norse tōl tools]

tool

Past participle: tooled
Gerund: tooling

Imperative
tool
tool

Present
I tool
you tool
he/she/it tools
we tool
you tool
they tool

Preterite
I tooled
you tooled
he/she/it tooled
we tooled
you tooled
they tooled

Present Continuous
I am tooling
you are tooling
he/she/it is tooling
we are tooling
you are tooling
they are tooling

Present Perfect
I have tooled
you have tooled
he/she/it has tooled
we have tooled
you have tooled
they have tooled

Past Continuous
I was tooling
you were tooling
he/she/it was tooling
we were tooling
you were tooling
they were tooling

Past Perfect
I had tooled
you had tooled
he/she/it had tooled
we had tooled
you had tooled
they had tooled

Future
I will tool
you will tool
he/she/it will tool
we will tool
you will tool
they will tool

Future Perfect
I will have tooled
you will have tooled
he/she/it will have tooled
we will have tooled
you will have tooled
they will have tooled

Future Continuous
I will be tooling
you will be tooling
he/she/it will be tooling
we will be tooling
you will be tooling
they will be tooling

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been tooling
you have been tooling
he/she/it has been tooling
we have been tooling
you have been tooling
they have been tooling

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been tooling
you will have been tooling
he/she/it will have been tooling
we will have been tooling
you will have been tooling
they will have been tooling

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been tooling
you had been tooling
he/she/it had been tooling
we had been tooling
you had been tooling
they had been tooling

Conditional
I would tool
you would tool
he/she/it would tool
we would tool
you would tool
they would tool

Past Conditional
I would have tooled
you would have tooled
he/she/it would have tooled
we would have tooled
you would have tooled
they would have tooled

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	tool - an implement used in the practice of a vocation abrader, abradant - a tool or machine used for wearing down or smoothing or polishing bender - a tool for bending; "he used pliers as a bender" clincher - a tool used to clinch nails or bolts or rivets comb - any of several tools for straightening fibers cutting implement - a tool used for cutting or slicing drill - a tool with a sharp point and cutting edges for making holes in hard materials (usually rotating rapidly or by repeated blows) eolith - a crude stone artifact (as a chipped flint); possibly the earliest tools fork - an agricultural tool used for lifting or digging; has a handle and metal prongs gang - tool consisting of a combination of implements arranged to work together garden tool, lawn tool - used for working in gardens or yards grapnel, grapple, grappling hook, grappling iron, grappler - a tool consisting of several hooks for grasping and holding; often thrown with a rope hack - a tool (as a hoe or pick or mattock) used for breaking up the surface of the soil hand tool - a tool used with workers' hands hoe - a tool with a flat blade attached at right angles to a long handle implement - instrumentation (a piece of equipment or tool) used to effect an end jack - tool for exerting pressure or lifting Jaws of Life - hydraulic tool inserted into a wrecked vehicle and used to pry the wreckage apart in order to provide access to people trapped inside neolith - a stone tool from the Neolithic Age paleolith - a stone tool from the Paleolithic age pestle, pounder, muller - a heavy tool of stone or iron (usually with a flat base and a handle) that is used to grind and mix material (as grain or drugs or pigments) against a slab of stone plow, plough - a farm tool having one or more heavy blades to break the soil and cut a furrow prior to sowing power tool - a tool driven by a motor punch, puncher - a tool for making holes or indentations rake - a long-handled tool with a row of teeth at its head; used to move leaves or loosen soil ram - a tool for driving or forcing something by impact rounder - a tool for rounding corners or edges saw set - a tool used to bend each alternate sawtooth at a slight angle outward shaping tool - a tool for shaping metal strickle - a tool used in a foundry to shape a mold in sand stylus, style - a pointed tool for writing or drawing or engraving; "he drew the design on the stencil with a steel stylus" tamp, tamper, tamping bar - a tool for tamping (e.g., for tamping tobacco into a pipe bowl or a charge into a drill hole etc.) tap - a tool for cutting female (internal) screw threads swage, upset - a tool used to thicken or spread metal (the end of a bar or a rivet etc.) by forging or hammering or swaging
	2.	tool - the means whereby some act is accomplished; "my greed was the instrument of my destruction"; "science has given us new tools to fight disease" instrument means, way, agency - how a result is obtained or an end is achieved; "a means of control"; "an example is the best agency of instruction"; "the true way to success"
	3.	tool - a person who is controlled by others and is used to perform unpleasant or dishonest tasks for someone else puppet, creature slave - a person who is owned by someone
	4.	tool - obscene terms for penis cock, pecker, peter, dick, putz, prick, shaft penis, member - the male organ of copulation (`member' is a euphemism) dirty word, obscenity, smut, filth - an offensive or indecent word or phrase
Verb	1.	tool - drive; "The convertible tooled down the street" drive - operate or control a vehicle; "drive a car or bus"; "Can you drive this four-wheel truck?" joyride, tool around, tool - ride in a car with no particular goal and just for the pleasure of it; "We tooled down the street"
	2.	tool - ride in a car with no particular goal and just for the pleasure of it; "We tooled down the street" joyride, tool around driving - the act of controlling and steering the movement of a vehicle or animal ride - be carried or travel on or in a vehicle; "I ride to work in a bus"; "He rides the subway downtown every day" tool - drive; "The convertible tooled down the street"
	3.	tool - furnish with tools furnish, provide, supply, render - give something useful or necessary to; "We provided the room with an electrical heater"
	4.	tool - work with a tool work on, work, process - shape, form, or improve a material; "work stone into tools"; "process iron"; "work the metal"

tool

noun

1. implement, device, appliance, apparatus, machine, instrument, gadget, utensil, contraption, contrivance The best tool for the purpose is a pair of shears.

2. means, agency, vehicle, medium, agent, intermediary, wherewithal The video has become an invaluable teaching tool.

3. puppet, creature, pawn, dupe, stooge (slang), jackal, minion, lackey, flunkey, hireling, cat's-paw He became the tool of the security services.

verb

1. make, work, cut, shape, chase, decorate, ornament We have a beautifully tooled glass replica of it.

Tools

Allen key, alligator, auger, awl, axe, ball-peen hammer, beetle, billhook, bit, bitstock, bodkin, bolster, borer, bosh, brace and bit, broach, broad, burin, bushhammer, centre punch, chaser, chisel, claw hammer, clink, clippers, cold chisel, comb, comber, countersink, cradle, croze, diamond point, dibble, drawknife or drawshave, dresser, drift or driftpin, drill, drill press, drove or drove chisel, edge tool, eyeleteer, facer, file, fillet, firmer chisel, flange, flatter, float, floatcut file, fork, former, fraise, froe or frow, fuller, gab, gad, gavel, gimlet, gouger, graver, gympie (Austral.), hack, hack hammer, half-round chisel, hammer, hammer drill, hob, hoe, hone, icebreaker, ice pick, jackhammer, jointer, jumper, kevel, knapping hammer, mallet, mattock, maul, mitre square, monkey wrench, nibbler, nippers, padsaw, percussion tool, pestle, pick, piledriver, pitching tool, plane, pliers, ploughstaff, pneumatic hammer, power drill, pruning hook, punch, rabble or rabbler, rake, rawhide hammer, ripple, rocker, rounder, router, sander, saw, sax, scorper or scauper, screwdriver, screw tap, scriber, scutch or scutcher, scythe, shave, shears, sickle, slasher (Austral. & N.Z.), sledgehammer, snake, slick, soldering iron, spade, spanner, spider, spitsticker, spud or spudder, stiletto, stylus, swage, tack hammer, tilt hammer, triphammer, trepan, trowel, wimble, wrench

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

tool

noun

1. A device used to do work or perform a task:

implement, instrument, utensil.

2. A person used or controlled by others:

cat's-paw, dupe, instrument, pawn, puppet, stooge.

verb

Slang. To run and control (a motor vehicle):

drive, motor, pilot, wheel.

Translations

أَدَاةأداه

изработваминструментоборудвамсредство

nářadínástrojobrábět

værktøjpikredskab

Werkzeug bearbeiten Gerät Hilfsmittel Instrument

εργαλείο

herramienta instrumento utensilio útil

instrumentaalprogrammriistrügamatööriistvahend

työkaluvarustaakalu

outil repousser ustensile façonner instrument

alat

szerszám

alat

verkfæri, áhald, tæki, tól

arnese strumento attrezzo decorare lavorare con arnesi

道具ツール工具

도구

darbarīksinstruments

gereedschap hulpmiddel instrument lul uitrusten

verktøy bearbeide kuk redskap

narzędzie harowaćkutas

ferramenta instrumento equipar

sculă

инструмент орудие прибор средство устройство

orodje

alatалат

verktyg

เครื่องมือ

âletaraç

công cụ

工具

tool

[tuːl]

A. N

1. (carpenter's, mechanic's etc) → herramienta f; (gardener's) → útil m, utensilio m
a set of tools → un juego de herramientas
the tools of his trade → las herramientas de su trabajo
give us the tools and we will finish the job (fig) → dadnos las herramientas y nosotros terminaremos la obra
see down ¹ D2

2. (fig) (= person, book etc) → instrumento m
he was a mere tool in their hands → fue instrumento en sus manos, nada más
the book is an essential tool → el libro es indispensable, el libro es instrumento imprescindible

B. VT [+ wood, metal] → labrar con herramienta; [+ book, leather] → estampar en seco

C. CPD tool bag N → estuche m de herramientas
tool box, tool chest N → caja f de herramientas
tool kit N → juego m de herramientas, estuche m de herramientas
tool room N → departamento m de herramientas
tool shed N → cobertizo m para herramientas

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

tool

[ˈtuːl]

(= piece of equipment) → outil m
garden tools → outils de jardinage
to down tools (British) → débrayer, cesser le travail
the tools of the trade (= skills and equipment) → les outils du métier

(= useful device) → outil m
a teaching tool → un outil pédagogique

(= person being used) → instrument m
to be the tool of sb → être un instrument entre les mains de qn

vt [+ leather, metal] → travailler

tool

→ Werkzeug nt; (= gardening tool) → (Garten)gerät nt; (Comput) → Tool nt, → Hilfsmittel nt, → Dienstprogramm nt; tools → Werkzeuge pl; (= set) → Werkzeug nt; (in Windows®) → Extras pl; that’s one of the tools of the trade → das gehört zum Handwerkszeug; to have the tools for the job → das richtige or nötige Werkzeug haben

(fig: = person) → Werkzeug nt

(sl: = penis) → Ding nt (inf), → Apparat m (sl)

vt book, leather → punzen

tool

toolbag

n → Werkzeugtasche f

toolbar

n (Comput) → Symbolleiste f, → Funktionsleiste f; tool button → Symbolleistenschaltfläche f; tool icon → Bildsymbol nt → auf der Symbolleiste

toolbox

n → Werkzeugkasten m; (Comput) → Toolbox f

tool chest

n = toolbox

tool

toolkit

n → Werkzeug (→ ausrüstung f) nt

tool-maker

n → Werkzeugmacher(in) m(f)

tool-making

adj attr → Werkzeugbau-; tool firm → Werkzeughersteller m, → Werkzeugbaufirma f

tool shed

n → Geräteschuppen m

tooltip

n (Comput) → Quickinfo nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

tool

[tuːl]

1. n

a. (gen) (Tech) → attrezzo, utensile m, arnese m
(set of) tools → (set m inv di) attrezzi
the tools of one's trade → i ferri del mestiere

b. (fig) (person) → strumento
he was a mere tool in their hands → non era che uno strumento or un fantoccio nelle loro mani

2. vt → lavorare con un attrezzo

tool

(tuːl) noun

an instrument for doing work, especially by hand. hammers, saws and other tools; the tools of his trade; Advertising is a powerful tool.

tool

→ أَدَاة nářadí værktøj Werkzeug εργαλείο herramienta työkalu outil alat strumento 道具 도구 gereedschap verktøy narzędzie ferramenta инструмент verktyg เครื่องมือ araç công cụ 工具

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

He had in his chest a tool for everything he wanted to do, and these must have been magic tools because they did their work so fast and so well.

View in context

I had never handled a tool in my life; and yet, in time, by labour, application, and contrivance, I found at last that I wanted nothing but I could have made it, especially if I had had tools.

View in context

And yet he thinks, ha, ha, ha, ha, he thinks I am the tool and servant of his will.

View in context

"Well, algebra is a tool, like the plow or the hammer, and a good tool to those who know how to use it."

View in context

"With one of the clamps of my bedstead; and this very tool has sufficed me to hollow out the road by which I came hither, a distance of about fifty feet."

View in context

"You see, dear man, this is not a sewing shop, and I had no proper tools; and, as they say, one needs a tool even to kill a louse," said Platon with one of his round smiles, obviously pleased with his work.

View in context

To accomplish his object Ahab must use tools; and of all tools used in the shadow of the moon, men are most apt to get out of order.

View in context

ABOUT noon the next day the boys ar- rived at the dead tree; they had come for their tools. Tom was impatient to go to the haunted house; Huck was measurably so, also -- but suddenly said:

View in context

The concert of the tools and Adam's voice was at last broken by Seth, who, lifting the door at which he had been working intently, placed it against the wall, and said, "There!

View in context

A LION, entering the workshop of a smith, sought from the tools the means of satisfying his hunger.

View in context

When at last the lumber and tools were assembled, and the doors were closed again and the cold draughts shut out, grandfather rode away to meet the coroner at the Shimerdas', and Fuchs took off his coat and settled down to work.

View in context

They had none of them any firearms or any other weapons but hatchets and other tools, except this third Englishman; he had one of my rusty cutlasses, with which he made at the two last Spaniards, and wounded them both.