tool Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an implement used in the practice of a vocation
  2. noun the means whereby some act is accomplished
    instrument.
    • my greed was the instrument of my destruction
    • science has given us new tools to fight disease
  3. noun a person who is controlled by others and is used to perform unpleasant or dishonest tasks for someone else
    puppet; creature.
  4. noun obscene terms for penis
    shaft; prick; cock; dick; putz; peter; pecker.
  5. verb drive
    • The convertible tooled down the street
  6. verb ride in a car with no particular goal and just for the pleasure of it
    joyride; tool around.
    • We tooled down the street
  7. verb furnish with tools
  8. verb work with a tool

WordNet


Tool noun
Etymology
OE. tol,tool. AS. tl; akin to Icel. tl, Goth. taijan to do, to make, taui deed, work, and perhaps to E. taw to dress leather.
Definitions
  1. An instrument such as a hammer, saw, plane, file, and the like, used in the manual arts, to facilitate mechanical operations; any instrument used by a craftsman or laborer at his work; an implement; as, the tools of a joiner, smith, shoe-maker, etc.; also, a cutter, chisel, or other part of an instrument or machine that dresses work.
  2. A machine for cutting or shaping materials; -- also called machine tool.
  3. Hence, any instrument of use or service.
    That angry fool . . . Whipping her house, did with his amarting tool Oft whip her dainty self. Spenser.
  4. A weapon. Obs.
    Him that is aghast of every tool. Chaucer.
  5. A person used as an instrument by another person; -- a word of reproach; as, men of intrigue have their tools, by whose agency they accomplish their purposes.
    I was not made for a minion or a tool. Burks.
Tool transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle tooled ; present participle & verbal noun tooling
Definitions
  1. To shape, form, or finish with a tool. "Elaborately tooled." Ld. Lytton.
  2. To drive, as a coach. Slang,Eng.

Webster 1913