Category:Tool

Tool, n. Etym: [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. sq. root64.]

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 Tool, v. t. [imp. & p. p. tooled; p. pr. & vb. n. tooling.]

1. To shape, form, or finish with a tool. "elaborately tooled." Ld. Lytton.

2. To drive, as a coach. [slang,eng.]