Tool, n.
Etymology: [OE. tol,tool. AS. tl; akin to Icel. tl, Goth. taijan to do, to make, taui deed, work, and perhaps to E. taw to dress leather. sq. root64.]
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.
2. A machine for cutting or shaping materials; -- also called machine tool.
3. Hence, any instrument of use or service. That angry fool . . . Whipping her house, did with his amarting tool Oft whip her dainty self. Spenser.
4. A weapon. [Obs.] Him that is aghast of every tool. Chaucer.
1 more senses
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. I was not made for a minion or a tool. Burks.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Tool, v. t. [imp. & p. p. tooled; p. pr. & vb. n. tooling.]
1. To shape, form, or finish with a tool. "Elaborately tooled." Ld. Lytton.
2. To drive, as a coach. [Slang,Eng.]
Shades of meaning
A tool is something that is both contrived and used for extending the force of an intelligent agent to something that is to be operated upon. Those things by which pacific and industrial operations are performed are alone properly called tools, those designed for warlike purposes being designated weapons. An instrument is anything through which power is applied and a result produced; in general usage, the word is of considerably wider meaning than tool; as, a piano is a musical instrument. Instrument is the word usually applied to tools used in scientific pursuits; as, we speak of a surgeon's or an optician's instruments. An implement is a mechanical agency considered with reference to some specific purpose to which it is adapted; as, an agricultural implement; implements of war. Implement is a less technical and artificial term than tool. The paw of a tiger might be termed a terrible implement, but not a tool. A utensil is that which may be used for some special purpose; the word is especially applied to articles used for domestic or agricultural purposes; as, kitchen utensils; farming utensils. An appliance is that which is or may be applied to the accomplishment of a result, either independently or as subordinate to something more extensive or important; every mechanical tool is an appliance, but not every appliance is a tool; the traces of a harness are appliances for traction, but they are not tools. Mechanism is a word of wide meaning, denoting any combination of mechanical devices for united action. A machine in the most general sense is any mechanical instrument for the conversion of motion; in this sense a lever is a machine; but in more commonly accepted usage a machine is distinguished from a tool by its complexity, and by the combination and coordination of powers and movements for the production of a result. A chisel by itself is a tool; when it is set so as to be operated by a crank and pitman, the entire mechanism is called a machine; as, a mortising-machine. An apparatus may be a machine, but the word is commonly used for a collection of distinct articles to be used in connection or combination for a certain purpose--a mechanical equipment; as, the apparatus of a gymnasium; especially, for a collection of appliances for some scientific purpose; as, a chemical or surgical apparatus; an apparatus may include many tools, instruments, or implements. Implement is for the most part and utensil is altogether restricted to the literal sense; instrument, machine, and tool have figurative use, instrument being used largely in a good, tool always in a bad sense; machine inclines to the unfavorable sense, as implying that human agents are made mechanically subservient to some controlling will; as, an instrument of Providence; the tool of a tyrant; a political machine.