tool 1 of 2

tool

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verb

as in to drive
to travel by a motorized vehicle I spent some time tooling around town today

Synonyms & Similar Words

Synonym Chooser

How is the word tool different from other nouns like it?

Some common synonyms of tool are appliance, implement, instrument, and utensil. While all these words mean "a relatively simple device for performing work," tool suggests an implement adapted to facilitate a definite kind or stage of work and suggests the need of skill more strongly than implement.

a carpenter's tools

When is it sensible to use appliance instead of tool?

While the synonyms appliance and tool are close in meaning, appliance refers to a tool or instrument utilizing a power source and suggests portability or temporary attachment.

household appliances

In what contexts can implement take the place of tool?

In some situations, the words implement and tool are roughly equivalent. However, implement may apply to anything necessary to perform a task.

crude stone implements
farm implements

When is instrument a more appropriate choice than tool?

While in some cases nearly identical to tool, instrument suggests a device capable of delicate or precise work.

the dentist's instruments

When could utensil be used to replace tool?

The words utensil and tool can be used in similar contexts, but utensil applies to a device used in domestic work or some routine unskilled activity.

kitchen utensils

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tool
Noun
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, click here. Matthew Impelli, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 July 2025 At this point in history, ancient humans were also beginning to form stone tools that made searching for underground plants even easier. Andrew Paul Jul 31, Popular Science, 31 July 2025
Verb
Staying at the legendary Malaysia Hotel (where Tony Wheeler wrote the first Lonely Planet guidebook), tooling around town in tuk-tuks, sipping tom yum gai at a street stall, and making the obligatory pilgrimage to the Grand Palace to view the Emerald Buddha. Joe Yogerst, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025 Below swaying palm trees, people walked small dogs and tooled around on cruiser bikes. Rebecca Plevin, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for tool
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tool
Noun
  • Using the device is as simple as subtly dipping a finger into your drink, using that finger to transfer a drop of the liquid over to the tattoo, then wetting the surface of the tattoo with that drop.
    Ben Coxworth July 26, New Atlas, 26 July 2025
  • The devices are considered imperative to reactor safety, according to the Energy Education project at the University of Calgary.
    Arpan Lobo, Freep.com, 26 July 2025
Noun
  • The suspect is also wanted in Massachusetts for allegedly stealing guns from a pawn shop in February 2025, Tisch said.
    Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 20 July 2025
  • United Communities is pro-development but wanted deed restrictions to prevent the opening of liquor stores, pawn shops, and tattoo shops.
    Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 July 2025
Noun
  • Like these rich men, Luthor embraces his villainy by styling himself as a sleek anti-hero and lording his privilege over the rest of society’s suckers.
    Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 16 July 2025
  • Check the main vine and secondary shoot regularly for new suckers and remove them promptly.
    Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 5 July 2025
Verb
  • That in turn drove low wages for workers, high staff turnover and limited capacity for children.
    Rachel Wegner, The Tennessean, 26 July 2025
  • Holmquist noted an increase in pay for bus drivers and the $11 million spent on stipends to parents who drove their kids to school after cuts were made to magnet transportation.
    Krista Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 25 July 2025
Noun
  • The instrument, which started its main work in 2021, kicked toward that goalpost by peering at various galaxies across the universe.
    Sarah Scoles, JSTOR Daily, 31 July 2025
  • Even the original one-month extension would have been too little time to arrange for, and fine-tune, other instruments to match the previous data for scientific continuity, Cortinas said.
    Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 31 July 2025
Noun
  • Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube are each chasing ambitious revenue targets — and lofty market caps that reflect their potential as platform giants in the race for dominance in entertainment and media.
    Jason Davis, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025
  • Graham has been a regular target of criticism by Trump and his supporters over the last decade, with the lawmaker sometimes splitting from the GOP leader.
    Savannah Kuchar, USA Today, 28 July 2025
Verb
  • Yet, Yandy Diaz and the Rays’ offense have been motoring along at a rapid clip during a 22-9 run that has improved their overall mark from 21-26 to 43-35 and within 2.5 games of the Yankees in the American League East.
    Tom Layberger, Forbes.com, 23 June 2025
  • But while motoring out in the dark that morning, Pebley, 42, noticed that the throttle on his surface drive motor had started to stick.
    Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 26 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Replace people with mechanisms to drive labor costs down and profits up.
    Erik Sherman, Forbes.com, 26 July 2025
  • In a 1998 essay for The New Yorker, the author Arthur Miller described urbanites’ Depression-era coping mechanisms: People caught the breeze on open-air trolleys, climbed onto the back of ice trucks, and flocked to the beach.
    Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 26 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Tool.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tool. Accessed 3 Aug. 2025.

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