tool

Less common meanings

4. 4
   puppetnouncountable

   A person or group used or controlled by another, usually without realizing it; a pawn.

   Historians argue the young king was merely a tool of his ambitious advisors.

   The militia became a tool of foreign powers competing for influence in the region.

   UsageUsually a tool of someone: a tool of his advisors. Without of, calling someone a tool sounds like an insult.

   Similarpawn, puppet, stooge, instrument, dupe

   Note

   Said of people, the word turns accusatory. To be a tool of the pharmaceutical lobby, or of a foreign influence operation, is to serve interests one may not see.

5. 5
   jerknounslangderogatoryvulgarcountable

   An obnoxious or uptight person; used contemptuously as an insult rather than a literal description.

   He spent the whole party bragging about his salary like a complete tool.

   Only a tool would rev his engine outside the hospital at midnight.

   UsageCommon phrases include such a tool and a complete tool. Avoid calling someone this in professional settings.

   Similarasshole, bastard, butthead, berk, blackguard

   Note

   An insult rather than a description, and a fairly strong one. That guy's such a tool might be aimed at a clerk who refuses to sell tickets one minute after the cutoff.

6. 6
   decorate by handverbtransitive

   To work or shape a material with tools, especially to impress decorative patterns by hand.

   Artisans tool the saddle leather with stamps and swivel knives.

   The bookbinder tooled gold lettering onto the spine of each volume.

   UsageMost often tooled or hand-tooled: hand-tooled leather. You tool leather, or tool lettering onto a spine.

   Similarstamp, emboss, work

7. 7
   penisnounvulgarcolloquialcountable

   The penis, especially in sexual or erotic contexts; a vulgar slang use.

   He bragged in the locker room about the size of his tool.

   The comedian's whole set was jokes about his tool and his ex-wife.

   Similarcock, dick, chopper

   Note

   Bawdy English has used this sense for centuries. William Shakespeare and John Fletcher joke about "the great Toole" in 1613, and Burna Bandz still uses it in a 2019 lyric. Because the same lyric also uses street slang for a gun, context decides which meaning is intended. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

   • The sexual sense has existed for centuries. en.wiktionary.org
   • Shakespeare and Fletcher wrote the play containing the joke. folgerpedia.folger.edu
   • Henry VIII was first published in 1623. The year 1613 refers to its composition and first recorded performance. folgerpedia.folger.edu
   • The play contains the exact phrase "the great Toole". en.wiktionary.org
   • Burna Bandz uses the sexual sense in a 2019 lyric. en.wiktionary.org
   • The same song also uses "tool" to mean a gun. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   equipverbtransitive

   To furnish or equip a factory, workshop, or worker with the tools needed for a task.

   Investors spent millions to tool the factory for electric vehicle production.

   By spring, the contractor had tooled every workshop with new lathes and presses.

   UsageOften tool up: the factory tooled up for electric cars. Retool means re-equip it for something new.

   Similarequip, outfit, fit

9. 9
   put downverbslangtransitive

   To put another person down, often subtly, and in doing so use them to achieve one's own goal.

   He tooled his coworker in the meeting, taking credit while making her look unprepared.

   Everyone could see him trying to tool the new guy, making him look clueless so the boss would notice his own work.

   Similarundermine, exploit

   Note

   Slang that makes someone into the kind of tool described in the "pawn" meaning. A typical warning is "he's not your friend, he's just tooling you." The verb fuses the put-down with the using, and it sits naturally in the progressive.

10. 10
    work hardverbslangUSintransitive

    To work very hard.

    With finals a week away, most of the dorm was tooling late into the night.

    Half the dorm will tool in the library all weekend before the physics final.

    Similartoil, slave, labor, slog

    Note

    The setting this verb keeps is the grind of study. Matt Fichtenbaum and Dan Murphy's "The Institute Screw" (1965) uses it as a command to a whole class of students, set among labs, books and a final quiz.

11. 11
    gunnoundialectalCanadaMulticultural London EnglishUScountable

    A handgun.

    Witnesses said he flashed a tool during the argument outside the club.

    Everybody on the block knew he kept a loaded tool in the glove box, just in case.

    Similarweapon, arm

    Note

    Street slang shared by US and Canadian speech and by Multicultural London English, heard especially in rap lyrics. The verbs around it give it away: keep a tool, and worry that your tools won't jam. Outside that register, a tool is still a hammer or a wrench, so the gun meaning depends on its surroundings. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The handgun sense is documented in Canadian and US slang and Multicultural London English. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    ride aroundverbslangintransitive

    To get about by vehicle, whether riding or driving.

    They spent Sunday tooling along the coast highway in his old convertible.

    We can tool over to the lake after lunch if the rain holds off.

    UsageFollowed by a word of easy movement: tool around town, tooling along the coast.

    Similarcruise, drive, ride

    Note

    In Byron P. Stephenson's "My Trip to Brazil" (1890), boys go tooling along on bicycles. Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London (2011) has officers tooling around in vans. The phrases suggest unhurried travel and carry on the old coaching verb in a looser form. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • Byron P. Stephenson's "My Trip to Brazil" was published in 1890. library.osu.edu
    • Stephenson's article describes boys tooling along on bicycles. en.wiktionary.org
    • Ben Aaronovitch wrote Rivers of London, first published in 2011. en.wikipedia.org
    • Rivers of London describes officers tooling around in vans. en.wiktionary.org
    • Tool had an older meaning involving driving a coach. en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    verbdatedUKtransitive

    To drive a coach or other vehicle along the road, or to carry people or goods in one.

    He tooled the mail coach from London to Bath in record time.

    Any gentleman of the period worth his salt could tool a four-in-hand through Hyde Park.

    Similardrive

    Note

    British coaching slang, now dated, in which a good driver tooled a coach. The object may be the vehicle being handled or the people carried in it. The verb belongs to a world of horses and reins. Its looser descendant, tooling along, is the form that still circulates. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Tool was British coaching slang for driving a coach or another vehicle. en.wiktionary.org
    • The object can also be a passenger being conveyed: the coachman says that he 'tooled him up to the Varsity'. gutenberg.org
    • The coaching sense is associated with handling horses. horntip.com
    • The broader travelling sense, including tool along, developed from the horse-driving sense. horntip.com
14. 14
    noun

    A particular skill valued in baseball, such as hitting, running, fielding, or throwing.
15. 15
    verb

    To attack the ball deliberately so that it deflects off a blocker and travels out of bounds.