Noun

Singular tool

Plural tools

tool (plural tools)

1. A mechanical device intended to make a task easier.

   Hand me that tool, would you?

2. Equipment used in a profession, e.g., tools of the trade.

   These are the tools of the trade.

3. Something to perform an operation; an instrument; a means.
4. (computing) A piece of software used to develop software or hardware.

   The software engineer had been developing lots of EDA tools.

5. A person or group which is used or controlled, usually unwittingly, by another person or group.

   He was a tool, no more than a pawn to her.

6. (slang) Penis.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:tool

Derived terms

• toolbar
• toolbox
• toolchain
• tool chest
• tooling
• toolkit
• toolmaker
• toolset

A tool, broadly defined, is an entity that interfaces between two or more domains; that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other. Basic tools are simple machines. For example, a crowbar simply functions as a lever. The further out from the pivot point, the more force is transmitted along the lever. A hammer typically interfaces between the operator's hand and the nail the operator wishes to strike.

Tools are the most important items that the ancient humans used to climb to the top of the food chain; by inventing tools, they were able to accomplish tasks that their bodies could not, such as using a spear or bow and arrow to kill prey, since their teeth were not sharp enough to pierce many animals' skins.

A telephone is a communication tool that interfaces between two people engaged in conversation at one level. And between each user and the communication network at another. It is in the domain of media and communications technology that a counter-intuitive aspect of our relationships with our tools first began to gain popular recognition. Marshall McLuhan famously said "We shape our tools. And then our tools shape us." McLuhan was referring to the fact that our social practices co-evolve with our use of new tools and the refinements we make to existing tools.

Tools that have evolved for use in particular domains can be given different assignations. For example, tools designed for domestic use are often called utensils.

Observation has confirmed that that multiple species can use tools, including monkeys, apes, several birds, and sea otters. Philosophers originally thought that only humans had the ability to make tools, until zoologists observed birds and monkeys making tools. Now humans' unique relationship to tools is considered to be that we are the only species that uses tools to make other tools.

Most anthropologists believe that the use of tools was an important step in the evolution of mankind. Humans evolved an opposable thumb — useful in holding tools — and increased dramatically in intelligence, which aided in the use of tools.

Tool is an American rock band, formed in 1990 in Los Angeles, California, who are noted for their progressive infuences and unconventional song structures. They have also been outspoken on a number of issues, ranging from religion to politics, both in their music and in person.

Contents

• 1 Attributed
  • 1.1 Maynard James Keenan
  • 1.2 Danny Carey
  • 1.3 Adam Jones
  • 1.4 Justin Chancellor
• 2 External links

Attributed

Maynard James Keenan

• Peace the fuck out!

• Hello Spotucky.

• Welcome to our world!

• I think I remember some of you, punk rockers from high school, you used to kick my ass and call me a faggot... You still do that.

• Hello, we're Tool. Just a reminder for those of you who are too fucked on acid to remember.

• I think psychedelics play a major part in what we do, but having said that, I feel that if somebody's going to experiment with those things they really need to educate themselves about them. People just taking the chemicals and diving in without having any kind of preparation about what they're about to experience tend to have no frame of reference, so they're missing everything flying by and all these new perspectives. It's just a waste. They reach a little bit of spiritual enlightenment, but they end up going, 'Well, now I need that drug to get back there again.' The trick is to use the drugs once to get there, and maybe spend the next ten years trying to get back there without the drug.

• I'm not really sure why somebody would want to take their clothes off at one of our concerts, but why you fucking Neanderthals can't evolve and keep your fucking hands off a naked lady, I don't know.

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Fri Feb 27 16:37:29 2009