Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: tol

tool

1 noun
     
tool
Related topics: Tools
tool1 S2 W2 [countable]
1TZ 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)
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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