tool

tool¹ W2S2 [tu:l] n

[: Old English; Origin: tol]

1.) something that you hold in your hand and use to do a particular job

▪ I don't have the right tools to start fiddling around with the engine.

▪ a shop selling garden tools

2.) a piece of equipment or a skill that is useful for doing your job

▪ Television is an important tool for the modern teacher.

▪ These books are the tools of my trade (=the things I need to do my job) .

3.) someone who is used unfairly by another person and who has to do things they do not really want to do - used to show disapproval

tool of

▪ The king was merely a tool of the military government.

4.) informal not polite a man's ↑penis (=sex organ)

→down tools at ↑down² (3)

tool ²

tool² v [I always + adverb/preposition]

AmE informal to drive along a street, especially for fun

▪ He spent the afternoon tooling around town.

tool up phr v

to prepare a factory for producing goods by providing the necessary tools and machinery

tool sth<=>up

▪ The factory was tooled up to produce light weapons.