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tool

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

tool
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈtul

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.

  2. Any piece of equipment used in a profession, such as a craftsman's.

  3. A person who is controlled by others and is used to perform unpleasant or dishonest tasks for someone else

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

  5. A person or group which is used or controlled, usually unwittingly, by another person or group, a pawn.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To work very hard.

  2. intransitiveslang

    To travel in a vehicle; to ride or drive.

    “The convertible tooled down the street.”

  3. transitiveslang

    To put down another person (possibly in a subtle, hidden way), and in that way to use him or her to meet a goal.

  4. transitive

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

  5. Furnish with tools

  6. transitive

    To equip with tools.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.

Used this way, tool is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

machine toolcutting tooltool kittool steeluseful toolpowerful toolimportant toolmanagement tool

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • tool cabinetnounCompound term

    A box or chest or cabinet for holding hand tools.

  • tool casenounCompound term

    A box or chest or cabinet for holding hand tools.

  • tool chestnounCompound term

    A box or chest or cabinet for holding hand tools.

  • tool kitnounCompound term

    A set of carpenter's tools.

  • tool steelnounCompound term

    Alloy steel that is suitable for making tools.

  • tool aroundverbCompound term

    Ride in a car with no particular goal and just for the pleasure of it.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • toolboxnounRelated term

    A box or chest or cabinet for holding hand tools.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.