- tool
- [[t]tu͟ːl[/t]]
♦♦♦tools1) N-COUNT A tool is any instrument or simple piece of equipment that you hold in your hands and use to do a particular kind of work. For example, spades, hammers, and knives are all tools.→ See also machine tool
I find the best tool for the purpose is a pair of shears.
2) N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N for -ing/n You can refer to anything that you use for a particular purpose as a particular type of tool.Writing is a good tool for discharging overwhelming feelings...
The video has become an invaluable teaching tool...
The threat of bankruptcy is a legitimate tool to extract money from them.
3) N-COUNT: usu N of n (disapproval) If you describe someone as a tool of a particular person, group, or system, you mean that they are controlled and used by that person, group, or system, especially to do unpleasant or dishonest things.He became the tool of the security services.
Syn:4) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that workers down tools, you mean that they stop working suddenly in order to strike or to make a protest of some kind. [BRIT]5) PHRASE: PHR after v, oft v-link PHR The tools of your trade or the tools of the trade are the skills, instruments, and other equipment that you need in order to do your job properly.They're here to learn the tools of their trade from their American colleagues...
Black-leather jackets and tattoos are the standard tools of the trade for heavy-metal musicians.
English dictionary. 2008.
