TOOL


Meaning of TOOL in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ tu:l ]

( tools)

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.

1.

A tool is any instrument or simple piece of equipment that you hold in your hands and use to do a particular kind of work. For example, spades, hammers, and knives are all tools.

I find the best tool for the purpose is a pair of shears.

N-COUNT

see also machine tool

2.

You can refer to anything that you use for a particular purpose as a particular type of tool .

The video has become an invaluable teaching tool...

N-COUNT : usu with supp , oft N for -ing / n

3.

If you describe someone as a tool of a particular person, group, or system, you mean that they are controlled and used by that person, group, or system, especially to do unpleasant or dishonest things.

He became the tool of the security services.

= puppet

N-COUNT : usu N of n [ disapproval ]

4.

If you say that workers down tools , you mean that they stop working suddenly in order to strike or to make a protest of some kind. ( BRIT )

PHRASE : V inflects

5.

The tools of your trade or the tools of the trade are the skills, instruments, and other equipment that you need in order to do your job properly.

They’re here to learn the tools of their trade from their American colleagues...

PHRASE : PHR after v , oft v-link PHR

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Английский словарь Коллинз COBUILD для изучающих язык на продвинутом уровне.