Tool

noun
1.
an implement, especially one held in the hand, as a hammer, saw, or file, for performing or facilitating mechanical operations.
2.
any instrument of manual operation.
3.
the cutting or machining part of a lathe, planer, drill, or similar machine.
4.
the machine itself; a machine tool.
5.
anything used as a means of accomplishing a task or purpose:
Education is a tool for success.
6.
a person manipulated by another for the latter’s own ends; cat’s-paw.
7.
the design or ornament impressed upon the cover of a book.
8.
Underworld Slang.

a pistol or gun.
a pickpocket.

9.
Slang: Vulgar. penis.
verb (used with object)
10.
to work or shape with a tool.
11.
to work decoratively with a hand tool.
12.
to ornament (the cover of a book) with a bookbinder’s tool.
13.
to drive (a vehicle):
He tooled the car along the treacherous path.
14.
to equip with tools or machinery.
verb (used without object)
15.
to work with a tool.
16.
to drive or ride in a vehicle:
tooling along the freeway.
Verb phrases
17.
tool up, to install machinery designed for performing a particular job:
manufacturers tooling up for production.
noun
1.

an implement, such as a hammer, saw, or spade, that is used by hand
a power-driven instrument; machine tool
(in combination): a toolkit

2.
the cutting part of such an instrument
3.

any of the instruments used by a bookbinder to impress a design on a book cover
a design so impressed

4.
anything used as a means of performing an operation or achieving an end: he used his boss’s absence as a tool for gaining influence
5.
a person used to perform dishonourable or unpleasant tasks for another
6.
a necessary medium for or adjunct to one’s profession: numbers are the tools of the mathematician’s trade
7.
(slang) another word for penis
8.
(Brit) an underworld slang word for gun
verb
9.
to work, cut, shape, or form (something) with a tool or tools
10.
(transitive) to decorate (a book cover) with a bookbinder’s tool
11.
(transitive) often foll by up. to furnish with tools
12.
when intr, often foll by along. to drive (a vehicle) or (of a vehicle) to be driven, esp in a leisurely or casual style
too hot to handle

1. A program used primarily to create, manipulate, modify, or analyse other programs, such as a compiler or an editor or a cross-referencing program. Opposite: app, operating system.
2. A Unix application program with a simple, “transparent” (typically text-stream) interface designed specifically to be used in programmed combination with other tools (see filter, plumbing).
3. (MIT: general to students there) To work; to study (connotes tedium). The TMRC Dictionary defined this as “to set one’s brain to the grindstone”. See hack.
4. (MIT) A student who studies too much and hacks too little. MIT’s student humour magazine rejoices in the name “Tool and Die”.
[Jargon File]
(1996-12-12)