Tool Definition

to͝ol

tooled, tooling, tools

noun

tools

Any implement, instrument, or utensil held in the hand and used to form, shape, fasten, add to, take away from, or otherwise change something by cutting, hitting, digging, rubbing, etc.: knives, saws, hammers, shovels, rakes, etc. are tools.

Webster's New World

A device, such as a saw, shovel, or drill, used to perform or facilitate manual or mechanical work.

American Heritage

Any similar instrument that is the working part of a power-driven machine, as a drill, band-saw blade, etc.

Webster's New World

The whole machine; machine tool.

Webster's New World

Anything that serves in the manner of a tool; a means.

Books are a scholar's tools.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

verb

tooled, tooling, tools

To form, shape, or work with a tool.

Webster's New World

To provide tools or machinery for (a factory, industry, etc.)

Webster's New World

To get or install the tools, equipment, etc. needed.

Webster's New World

To use a tool or tools.

Webster's New World

To drive (a vehicle).

Tooled the car at 80 miles an hour.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Tool

Noun

Singular:

tool

Plural:

tools

Origin of Tool

From Middle English tool, from Old English tōl (“tool, implement, instrument", literally “that with which one prepares something"), from Proto-Germanic *tōlÄ… (“tool"), from Proto-Indo-European *dewǝ- (“to tie to, secure"), equivalent to taw (“to prepare") +"Ž -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").

From Wiktionary
Middle English from Old English tōl possibly from Old Norse

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition