Definition of: tool

(tl) noun
1. A simple mechanism or implement, as a hammer, saw, spade, or chisel, used chiefly in the direct manual working, moving, shaping, or transforming of material.
2. A power–driven apparatus, as a lathe, used for cutting and shaping the parts of a machine.
3. The cutting or shaping part of such an apparatus.
4. A bookbinder's hand stamp used in lettering or ornamenting book covers.
5. A person used to carry out the designs of others or another; a dupe.
6. Law Any instrument or apparatus necessary to the efficient prosecution of one's profession or trade.
—v.t.
1. To shape, mark, or ornament with a tool.
2. To provide with tools.
3. Colloq. To drive, as an automobile, or convey (a person) by driving.
4. In bookbinding, to ornament or impress designs upon with a roller bearing a pattern.
—v.i.
5. To work with a tool or tools.
6. Colloq. To drive or travel in a vehicle. [OE tōl] Synonyms (noun): apparatus, appliance, implement, instrument, machine, mechanism, utensil. A tool is both contrived and used for extending the force of an intelligent agent to something that is to be operated upon. An instrument is anything through which power is applied and a result produced; in general usage, the word is of considerably wider meaning than tool; as, a piano is a musical instrument. Instruments is the word usually applied to tools used in scientific pursuits; as, we speak of a surgeon's or an optician's instruments. An implement is a mechanical agency considered with reference to some specific purpose to which it is adapted; as, an agricultural implement, implements of war. Implement is a less technical term than tool. A utensil is that which may be used for some special purpose; the word is especially applied to articles used for domestic or agricultural purposes; as, kitchen utensils, farming utensils. Mechanism is a word of wide meaning, denoting any combination of mechanical devices for united action. A machine in the most general sense is any mechanical instrument for the conversion of motion; in this sense a lever is a machine; but in more commonly accepted usage a machine is distinguished from a tool by its complexity, and by the combination and coordination of powers and movements to produce results.