Utility vs. Tool

By Jaxson

Main Difference

The main difference between Utility and Tool is that the Utility is a concept in economics & game theory: a relative measure of happiness or satisfaction and Tool is a physical item that can be used to achieve a goal

  • Utility

    Within economics, the concept of utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or satisfaction within the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosophers such as Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. The term has been adapted and reapplied within neoclassical economics, which dominates modern economic theory, as a utility function that represents a consumer’s preference ordering over a choice set. It is devoid of its original interpretation as a measurement of the pleasure or satisfaction obtained by the consumer from that choice.

  • Tool

    A tool is an object used to extend the ability of an individual to modify features of the surrounding environment. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates back hundreds of millennia, use tools to make other tools. The set of tools needed to perform different tasks that are part of the same activity is called gear or equipment.

    While one may apply the term tool loosely to many things that are means to an end (e.g., a fork), strictly speaking an object is a tool only if, besides being constructed to be held, it is also made of a material that allows its user to apply to it various degrees of force. If repeated use wears part of the tool down (like a knife blade), it may be possible to restore it; if it wears the tool out or breaks it, the tool must be replaced. Thus tool falls under the taxonomic category implement, and is on the same taxonomic rank as instrument, utensil, device, or ware.

Wikipedia
  • Utility (noun)

    The state or condition of being useful; usefulness.

  • Utility (noun)

    Something that is useful.

  • Utility (noun)

    The ability of a commodity to satisfy needs or wants; the satisfaction experienced by the consumer of that commodity.

  • Utility (noun)

    Well-being, satisfaction, pleasure, or happiness.

  • Utility (noun)

    A securities of such a provider.

  • Utility (noun)

    A software program designed to perform a single task or a small range of tasks, often to help manage and tune computer hardware, an operating system or application software.

    “I’ve bought a new disk utility that can recover deleted files.”

  • Utility (noun)

    The ability to play multiple positions.

  • Utility (adjective)

    Having to do with, or owned by, a service provider.

    “utility line; utility bill”

  • Utility (adjective)

    Designating of a room in a house or building where mechanical equipment is installed; such as a furnace, water tank/heater, circuit breaker, and/or air conditioning unit; and often equipped with hookups for laundry equipment (washer/dryer).

    “utility room”

  • Tool (noun)

    A mechanical device intended to make a task easier.

    “Hand me that tool, would you?”

    “I don’t have the right tools to start fiddling around with the engine.”

  • Tool (noun)

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

    “ux|en|These are the tools of the trade.”

  • Tool (noun)

    Something to perform an operation; an instrument; a means.

  • Tool (noun)

    A piece of software used to develop software or hardware, or to perform low-level operations.

    “The software engineer had been developing lots of EDA tools.”

    “a tool for recovering deleted files from a disk”

  • Tool (noun)

    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.”

  • Tool (noun)

    Penis.

  • Tool (noun)

    An obnoxious or uptight person.

    “He won’t sell us tickets because it’s 3:01, and they went off sale at 3. That guy’s such a tool.”

  • Tool (verb)

    To work on or shape with tools, e.g., hand-tooled leather.

  • Tool (verb)

    To equip with tools.

  • Tool (verb)

    To work very hard.

  • Tool (verb)

    To put down another person (possibly in a subtle, hidden way), and in that way to use him or her to meet a goal.

    “Dude, he’s not your friend. He’s just tooling you.”

  • Tool (verb)

    To intentionally attack the ball so that it deflects off a blocker out of bounds.

  • Tool (verb)

    To drive (a coach, etc.)

  • Tool (verb)

    To travel in a vehicle; to ride or drive.

Wiktionary
  • Tool (noun)

    a device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function

    “gardening tools”

  • Tool (noun)

    a thing used to help perform a job

    “computers are an essential tool”

    “the ability to write clearly is a tool of the trade”

  • Tool (noun)

    a person used or exploited by another

    “the beautiful Estella is Miss Havisham’s tool”

  • Tool (noun)

    a piece of software that carries out a particular function, typically creating or modifying another program.

  • Tool (noun)

    a distinct design in the tooling of a book.

  • Tool (noun)

    a small stamp or roller used to make a tooled design.

  • Tool (noun)

    a man’s penis.

  • Tool (noun)

    a stupid, irritating, or contemptible man

    “that guy is such a tool”

  • Tool (verb)

    impress a design on (leather, especially a leather book cover)

    “volumes bound in green leather and tooled in gold”

  • Tool (verb)

    equip or be equipped with tools for industrial production

    “the factory must be tooled to produce the models”

    “they were tooling up for production”

  • Tool (verb)

    be or become armed, especially for criminal activity

    “they were tooled up with baseball bats”

  • Tool (verb)

    drive or ride in a casual or leisurely manner

    “tooling around town in a pink Rolls-Royce”

  • Tool (verb)

    dress (stone) with a chisel.

Oxford Dictionary

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