Pronunciations (5)
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/tuːl/
Pronunciation notes
- England
- Wales
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/tul/
Pronunciation notes
- US
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/tʉːl/
Pronunciation notes
- General-Australian
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/tʉl/
Pronunciation notes
- Northern-Ireland
- Scotland
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tuːl
Noun
Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.
- Examples
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Several prehistoric tools, including a stone ax, were found during the dig.
A screwdriver is a tool that no household should be without.
More examples (1)
A stapler is a tool for attaching papers to others.
Any physical device meant to ease or do a task. Any piece of equipment used in a profession, such as a craftsman's.
- Examples
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the tools of the trade
Rakes, shovels, hoes, and spades are some of the tools of the gardener's trade.
More examples (3)
I don't have the right tools to start fiddling around with the engine.
A timing light is a tool that only an automotive mechanic, professional or amateur, would have.
Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.
Anything that aids someone to perform an operation; an instrument; a means.
- Examples
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Idleness is a tool of the devil.
A spreadsheet app and a bookkeeping app are some of the principal tools of a bookkeeper.
More examples (2)
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.
Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus.[…]A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that. Developed as a tool to electronically combine the sharpest bits of multiple digital images, focus stacking is a boon to biologists seeking full focus on a micron scale.
A piece of software used to develop software or hardware, or to perform low-level operations.
- Broader terms
- Examples
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The software engineer had been developing lots of EDA tools.
a tool for recovering deleted files from a disk
A person or group which is used or controlled, usually unwittingly, by another person or group, a pawn.
- Examples
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She was a tool of the pharmaceutical lobby.
He was a tool of a foreign influence operation.
A particular skill pertaining to baseball (such as hitting, running, etc.).
- Examples
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a five-tool player
More examples (1)
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 Haas, who now scouts for the Arizona Diamondbacks. "He had an extreme crouch—his thighs were almost parallel to the ground. And he was heavier than he is now. But the more I watched him, the more I just thought, Throw the tools out the window. This guy can play baseball."
A penis, notably with a sexual or erotic connotation.
Usage- Informal
- Vulgar
- Examples
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Or haue wee some strange Indian with the great Toole, come to Court, the women so besiege vs?
She wanna hang with the goons She wanna party midnight till noon She wanna play with my tool
An obnoxious or uptight person.
Usage- broadly
- Derogatory
- Slang
- Vulgar
- Examples
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He won't sell us tickets because it's 3:01, and they went off sale at 3. That guy's such a tool.
A handgun.
Usage- Canada
- Multicultural-London-English
- US usage
- Slang
- Examples
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In my city keep a tool Lil nigga you know the rules
Three waps up and a couple of shanks (Just in case) But I got faith that these tools won't jam
Verb
To work on or shape with tools, e.g., hand-tooled leather.
Usage- Transitive
To equip with tools.
Usage- Transitive
To work very hard.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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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.
To put down another person (possibly in a subtle, hidden way), and in that way to use him or her to meet a goal.
Usage- Slang
- Transitive
- Examples
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Dude, he's not your friend. He's just tooling you.
To intentionally attack the ball so that it deflects off a blocker out of bounds.
Usage- Transitive
To drive (a coach or other vehicle).
Usage- UK usage
- Dated
- Slang
- Transitive
To carry or convey in a coach or other vehicle.
Usage- UK usage
- Dated
- Slang
- Transitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
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 gent as had much himproved hisself since he tooled him up to the Warsity with his guvnor."
To travel in a vehicle; to ride or drive.
Usage- Intransitive
- Slang
- Examples
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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.
Noun
an implement used in the practice of a vocation
- Broader terms
the means whereby some act is accomplished
- Synonyms
- Examples
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my greed was the instrument of my destruction
science has given us new tools to fight disease
a person who is controlled by others and is used to perform unpleasant or dishonest tasks for someone else
- Broader terms
obscene terms for penis
Verb
drive
- Broader terms
- Examples
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The convertible tooled down the street
ride in a car with no particular goal and just for the pleasure of it
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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We tooled down the street
furnish with tools
work with a tool