tool
English
Etymology
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").[1][2]
Pronunciation
- (UK) enPR: to͞ol, IPA(key): /tuːl/
- (US) IPA(key): /tul/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /tʉːl/
Audio (UK) (file)
- Rhymes: -uːl
- Homophone: tulle
Noun
tool (plural tools)
- A mechanical device intended to make a task easier.
- Hand me that tool, would you?
- I don't have the right tools to start fiddling around with the engine.
- Any piece of equipment used in a profession, e.g. a craftman's tools.
- 2012 March 1, Brian Hayes, “Pixels or Perish”, in American Scientist[1], volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 February 2013, page 106:
- 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.
- These are the tools of the trade.
- Something to perform an operation; an instrument; a means.
- 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist[2], archived from the original on 11 May 2017:
- 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.
- (computing) 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
- A person or group which is used or controlled, usually unwittingly, by another person or group.
- He was a tool, no more than a pawn to her.
- (by extension, vulgar, slang, derogatory) 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.
- (vulgar, slang) A penis, notably with a sexual or erotic connotation.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:penis
- 2019 February 1, Burna Bandz (lyrics and music), “Goons”, in Compact Burna[3], track 13:
- She wanna hang with the goons
She wanna party midnight till noon
She wanna play with my tool
- (slang, Canada, US, MTE, MLE, and possibly wider) A gun.
- 2019 February 1, Burna Bandz (lyrics and music), “Goons”, in Compact Burna[4], track 13:
- In my city keep a tool
Lil nigga you know the rules
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:tool
Hyponyms
- criminal tool, crimping tool, cutting tool, deburring tool, entrenching tool, grafting tool, Halligan tool, hand tool, hive tool, Jacot tool, machine tool, power tool, set tool, sex tool, side tool, spare tool, swing tool, tint tool, tip tool, turning tool
Derived terms
- down tools
- go back to the tools
- tool and die
- toolbar, tool bar
- toolbox, tool box
- toolchain
- toolchest, tool chest
- toolcrib, tool-crib, tool crib
- tooled
- tool-friendly
- toolie
- tooling
- toolkit
- toolkit, tool kit
- toolless
- toollike
- toolmaker
- toolpath, tool path
- toolpost, tool post
- toolpusher, tool-pusher
- toolrest, tool-rest
- toolroom, tool room
- toolset
- toolshed, tool shed
- toolstack
- tool steel
- tool stone
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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References
Verb
tool (third-person singular simple present tools, present participle tooling, simple past and past participle tooled)
- (transitive) To work on or shape with tools, e.g., hand-tooled leather.
- (transitive) To equip with tools.
- (intransitive) To work very hard.
- 1965, Matt Fichtenbaum; Dan Murphy, “The Institute Screw”, in The Broadside of Boston, volume III, number 22:
- 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.
- (transitive, slang) 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.
- (transitive, volleyball) To intentionally attack the ball so that it deflects off a blocker out of bounds.
- (transitive, UK, slang, dated) To drive (a coach or other vehicle).
- (transitive, UK, slang, dated) 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 gent as had much himproved hisself since he tooled him up to the Warsity with his guvnor."
- 1850s, Cuthbert M. Bede, The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green
- (intransitive, slang) 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
- 2011, Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London, Gollancz, published 2011, page 324:
- These are the guys that tool around in Mercedes Sprinter vans with equipment lockers stuffed with everything from riot helmets to tasers.
- March 8, 1890, Byron P. Stephenson, "My Trip to Brazil", in Illustrated American
Synonyms
- (volleyball): use
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
References
Anagrams
Dutch
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
tool m (plural tools, diminutive tooltje n)
- A tool, aid, instrument, auxiliary device.
- Synonym: hulpmiddel
Related terms
Estonian
Etymology
From Middle Low German stôl, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stōlaz.
Pronunciation
Noun
tool (genitive tooli, partitive tooli)
- chair
- A seat with four legs and a backrest for one person.
- 1968, Peet Vallak, Tuuled ümber maja: Novellivalimik, page 200:
- Siis läks kogu ta vallasvara oksjonile ning mõni siiasiginenud tool, laud, voodi, kapp ja sööginõud olid nüüd seaduslikult naise-ema omad.
- Then all his personal property was put up for auction and any chair, table, bed, or dishes he had taken possession now belonged legitimately to his mother-in-law.
- A seat with four legs and a backrest for one person.
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | tool | toolid |
genitive | tooli | toolide |
partitive | tooli | toole / toolisid |
illative | tooli / toolisse | toolidesse / toolesse |
inessive | toolis | toolides / tooles |
elative | toolist | toolidest / toolest |
allative | toolile | toolidele / toolele |
adessive | toolil | toolidel / toolel |
ablative | toolilt | toolidelt / toolelt |
translative | tooliks | toolideks / tooleks |
terminative | toolini | toolideni |
essive | toolina | toolidena |
abessive | toolita | toolideta |
comitative | tooliga | toolidega |
Derived terms
References
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English tōl, from Proto-Germanic *tōlą.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Noun
- A tool, implement, or instrument.
- A instrument of war; an armament.
- (rare) A device used for torturing or interrogration.
- (rare, vulgar) A penis.
Descendants
References
- “tọ̄l, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-03.
Etymology 2
Noun
tool
- Alternative form of toll.
Wolof
Noun
tool (definite form tool bi)
References
Omar Ka (2018) Nanu Dégg Wolof, National African Language Resource Center, →ISBN, page 255