# tool

Pronunciation: say "TOOL" US /tul/, UK /tuːl/

## Noun

1. A device or implement used to carry out a particular task, especially one used in a trade or profession.
   - Simple: An object or device you use to do a job, such as a hammer or saw.
   - _She grabbed a tool from the drawer to tighten the loose hinge._
   - _Early humans made simple tools from stone and bone._
2. Anything that helps a person accomplish an operation or goal; an instrument or means to an end.
   - Simple: Anything that helps a person get a job done, even an idea or a skill.
   - _Diplomacy remained the president's preferred tool for resolving disputes._
   - _Humor can be an effective tool for putting nervous patients at ease._
3. A piece of software used in developing other software or hardware, or for performing low-level system operations.
   - Simple: A computer program that helps people build other programs or do special computer jobs.
   - _The team built an internal tool to automate their database migrations._
   - _Debugging tools let engineers inspect a program's memory while it runs._
4. A person or group used or controlled by another, usually without realizing it; a pawn.
   - Simple: A person who is used by others to get what they want, often without knowing it.
   - _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._
5. An obnoxious or uptight person; used contemptuously as an insult rather than a literal description. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A rude word for someone who is annoying and thinks they are better than everyone.
   - _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._
7. The penis, especially in sexual or erotic contexts; a vulgar slang use. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A rude slang word for a man's penis.
   - _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._
11. A handgun. *(dialectal, Canada, Multicultural London English, US)*
   - Simple: A small gun that a person can hold and fire with one hand.
   - _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._

## Verb

6. To work or shape a material with tools, especially to impress decorative patterns by hand.
   - Simple: To shape or decorate something with tools, like making patterns in leather.
   - _Artisans tool the saddle leather with stamps and swivel knives._
   - _The bookbinder tooled gold lettering onto the spine of each volume._
8. To furnish or equip a factory, workshop, or worker with the tools needed for a task.
   - Simple: To give a factory or worker the machines and equipment needed for a job.
   - _Investors spent millions to tool the factory for electric vehicle production._
   - _By spring, the contractor had tooled every workshop with new lathes and presses._
9. To put another person down, often subtly, and in doing so use them to achieve one's own goal. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To make someone look bad in a quiet way so you can get what you want from them.
   - _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._
10. To work very hard. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: To work very hard for a long time.
   - _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._
12. To get about by vehicle, whether riding or driving. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To ride or drive around in a car or other vehicle.
   - _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._

## Verb

13. To drive a coach or other vehicle along the road, or to carry people or goods in one. *(dated, UK)*
   - Simple: To drive a coach or other vehicle, or to take people or things somewhere in it.
   - _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._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A particular skill valued in baseball, such as hitting, running, fielding, or throwing.
- (verb) To attack the ball deliberately so that it deflects off a blocker and travels out of bounds.

## Origin

This word comes from Middle English tool, from Old English tōl ("tool, implement"), literally "that with which one prepares something." It was perhaps borrowed from Old Norse tól, but ultimately traces back to Proto-Germanic *tōlą and the Proto-Indo-European root *dewh₂- ("to tie to, secure"). It is related to words like taw ("to prepare").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/tool (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).