Link Centre Dictionary

tool

UK/tuːl/ US/tul/ common informal slang uk us
noun (4) verb (4)

noun

1.

an implement used in the practice of a vocation

2.

the means whereby some act is accomplished

  • “my greed was the instrument of my destruction”
  • “science has given us new tools to fight disease”
Synonyms
3.

a person who is controlled by others and is used to perform unpleasant or dishonest tasks for someone else

Synonyms
4.

verb

1.

drive

  • “The convertible tooled down the street”
2.

ride in a car with no particular goal and just for the pleasure of it

  • “We tooled down the street”
Synonyms
3.

furnish with tools

4.

work with a tool

Origin

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").

Phrases

  • claw tool
  • course authoring tool
  • criminal tool
  • crimping tool
  • deburring tool
  • down tools
  • edge tool
  • entrenching tool
  • tool around

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.