toolnoun/tuːl/

• 1

  Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.

  • Several prehistoric tools, including a stone ax, were found during the dig.
  • A screwdriver is a tool that no household should be without.
• 2

  Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.

  • the tools of the trade
  • Rakes, shovels, hoes, and spades are some of the tools of the gardener's trade.
• 3

  Anything that aids someone to perform an operation; an instrument; a means.

  • Idleness is a tool of the devil.
  • A spreadsheet app and a bookkeeping app are some of the principal tools of a bookkeeper.
• 4

  computingengineeringmathematicsA 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
• 5

  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.
  • He was a tool of a foreign influence operation.
• 6

  ball-gamesbaseballgamesA particular skill pertaining to baseball (such as hitting, running, etc.).

  • a five-tool player
  • 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."
• 7

  vulgarinformalA penis, notably with a sexual or erotic connotation.

  • 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
• 8

  vulgarderogatoryslangAn 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.

toolverb/tuːl/

• 1

  To work on or shape with tools, e.g., hand-tooled leather.

• 2

  To equip with tools.

• 3

  To work very hard.

  • 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.
• 4

  slangTo 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.
• 5

  ball-gamesgameshobbiesTo intentionally attack the ball so that it deflects off a blocker out of bounds.

• 6

  datedslangTo drive (a coach or other vehicle).

• 7

  datedslangTo 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."
• 8

  slangTo 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
  • These are the guys that tool around in Mercedes Sprinter vans with equipment lockers stuffed with everything from riot helmets to tasers.