tool

CEFRA1

/tuːl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    An object used to do a particular job.

  2. 02

    noun

    A person or thing used to achieve a purpose.

Examples

  • A pick is a long handled tool used for breaking up hard ground surfaces.

  • A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /tul/
  • /tʉːl/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

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

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

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

More examples

In context

  • The company utilizes every media tool available to market its products.

  • A screwdriver is a tool that no household should be without.

  • A stapler is a tool for attaching papers to others.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The carpenter used a hammer as his main blank to build the wooden table.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English tool, tol, from Old English tōl (“tool, implement, instrument”, literally “that with which one prepares something”), perhaps borrowed from Old Norse tól, but at any rate ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tōlą (“that which is used in preparation, tool”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to tie to, secure”), equivalent to taw (“to prepare”) + -le (agent suffix). 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").