What does "tool" mean?
Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.
Tool
/tuːl/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.
- Grammar: tool is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: instrument, a device, adz, adzes.
- Useful contrasts: controller, damage, dequip.
- Usage evidence: A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.
How to use "tool"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tool" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tool" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tool" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tool" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tool" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "instrument" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "tool", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.
"Several prehistoric tools, including a stone ax, were found during the dig."
- 2 the means whereby some act is accomplished wordnet
- 3 Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.; Any piece of equipment used in a profession, such as a craftsman's.
"the tools of the trade"
- 4 an implement used in the practice of a vocation wordnet
- 5 Anything that aids someone to perform an operation; an instrument; a means.
"Idleness is a tool of the devil."
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 obscene terms for penis wordnet
- 7 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."
- 8 a person who is controlled by others and is used to perform unpleasant or dishonest tasks for someone else wordnet
- 9 A person or group which is used or controlled, usually unwittingly, by another person or group, a pawn.
"She was a tool of the pharmaceutical lobby."
- 10 A particular skill pertaining to baseball (such as hitting, running, etc.).
"a five-tool player"
- 11 A penis, notably with a sexual or erotic connotation. informal, vulgar
"Or haue wee some strange Indian with the great Toole, come to Court, the women so besiege vs?"
- 12 An obnoxious or uptight person. broadly, derogatory, slang, vulgar
"He won't sell us tickets because it's 3:01, and they went off sale at 3. That guy's such a tool."
- 13 A handgun. Canada, Multicultural-London-English, US, slang
"In my city keep a tool Lil nigga you know the rules"
Verb
- 1 To work on or shape with tools, e.g., hand-tooled leather. transitive
- 2 work with a tool wordnet
- 3 To equip with tools. transitive
- 4 ride in a car with no particular goal and just for the pleasure of it wordnet
- 5 To work very hard. intransitive
"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."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 drive wordnet
- 7 To put down another person (possibly in a subtle, hidden way), and in that way to use him or her to meet a goal. slang, transitive
"Dude, he's not your friend. He's just tooling you."
- 8 furnish with tools wordnet
- 9 To intentionally attack the ball so that it deflects off a blocker out of bounds. transitive
- 10 To drive (a coach or other vehicle). UK, dated, slang, transitive
- 11 To carry or convey in a coach or other vehicle. UK, dated, slang, transitive
"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.""
- 12 To travel in a vehicle; to ride or drive. intransitive, slang
"March 8, 1890, Byron P. Stephenson, "My Trip to Brazil", in Illustrated American boys on their bicycles tooling along the well-kept roads"
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tool"?
Common synonyms include: instrument, a device, adz, adzes, agency, agent.
How do you use "tool" in a sentence?
A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.
How do you pronounce "tool"?
Pronounced /tuːl/.
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").