tool

150 pxSeveral tools in a toolbox

Meanings

A mechanical device intended to make a task easier.
Any piece of equipment used in a profession, e.g. a craftman's tools.
Something to perform an operation; an instrument; a means.
A piece of software used to develop software or hardware, or to perform low-level operations.
A person or group which is used or controlled, usually unwittingly, by another person or group.
A penis, notably with a sexual or erotic connotation.
An obnoxious or uptight person.

To work on or shape with tools, e.g., hand-tooled leather.
To equip with tools.
To work very hard.
To put down another person (possibly in a subtle, hidden way), and in that way to use him or her to meet a goal.
To intentionally attack the ball so that it deflects off a blocker out of bounds.
To drive (a coach or other vehicle).
To carry or convey in a coach or other vehicle.
To travel in a vehicle; to ride or drive.

From Middle English tool, tol, from Old English tōl, from Proto-Germanic *tōlą, from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂-, equivalent to taw + -le . 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").

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