tools of the/one's trade

idiom

: a set of tools or skills that are necessary for a particular kind of job or work

She showed me her paints, brushes, and the other tools of her trade.

Examples of tools of the/one's trade in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The aural textures of the album lean heavily on the use of drum machines and synths, showcasing the artist's desire to play with the popular tools of the trade at that time. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 28 June 2025

To how wine is made and regional highlights to the economics behind the industry and tools of the trade, there’s nothing left out. —Kristin L. Wolfe, Forbes.com, 1 June 2025

With fewer people learning the tools of the trade, where will our future senior engineers come from? —Ryan Frankel, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025

Firewalls, VPNs, endpoint controls—these were the tools of the trade when your most sensitive data lived inside your network. —Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 17 Apr. 2025

But that hasn’t stopped generations of DJs from learning the tools of the trade while broadcasting music that, in some cases, isn’t found anywhere else on the airwaves. —Steve Metsch, Chicago Tribune, 8 Apr. 2025

This shift will redefine not just the tools of the trade but also the very fabric of how ads are conceptualized, delivered and experienced. —Mike Villalobos, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025

First, get to know the tools of the trade There are so many options. —Kim Komando, USA TODAY, 6 Feb. 2025

In what’s become a painfully familiar scene among the L.A. music community, lives have been completely upended in the fires’ wake and tools of the trade — gear, instruments, archival recordings and home studios — ruined. —Roy Trakin, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019