- machine tool
- Tool Tool (t[=oo]l), n. [OE. tol,tool. AS. t[=o]l; akin to
Icel. t[=o]l, Goth. taijan to do, to make, taui deed, work,
and perhaps to E. taw to dress leather. [root]64.]
1. An instrument such as a hammer, saw, plane, file, and the
like, used in the manual arts, to facilitate mechanical
operations; any instrument used by a craftsman or laborer
at his work; an implement; as, the tools of a joiner,
smith, shoe-maker, etc.; also, a cutter, chisel, or other
part of an instrument or machine that dresses work.
[1913 Webster]
2. A machine for cutting or shaping materials; -- also called {machine tool}. [1913 Webster]
3. Hence, any instrument of use or service. [1913 Webster]
That angry fool . . . Whipping her horse, did with his smarting tool Oft whip her dainty self. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
4. A weapon. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
Him that is aghast of every tool. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
5. A person used as an instrument by another person; -- a word of reproach; as, men of intrigue have their tools, by whose agency they accomplish their purposes. [1913 Webster]
I was not made for a minion or a tool. --Burks. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.