{
  "id": "device.tool",
  "term": "device",
  "sense": "tool",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 5,
  "arena": "technology",
  "domain": "artifacts",
  "style": null,
  "definition": "A thing made of matter in which energy flows through a structure to do some change.",
  "folk_gloss": null,
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "matter.substance",
      "energy.capacity",
      "structure.arrangement",
      "change.process",
      "flow.movement",
      "make.verb"
    ],
    "interaction": "Energy flows through a structured arrangement of matter, causing a specific change.",
    "novel_properties": [
      "directed transformation",
      "sustained functional behavior",
      "input-output agency"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "The Large Hadron Collider accelerates protons to 6.5 TeV using superconducting magnets cooled by 120 tons of liquid helium.",
      "domain": "physics"
    },
    {
      "text": "A beaver chews down aspen trees to build a dam that floods a meadow and creates a pond for shelter.",
      "domain": "biology"
    },
    {
      "text": "The 1943 Ford GPW 'Jeep' used a 60-horsepower engine and four-wheel drive to traverse rugged terrain during WWII.",
      "domain": "engineering"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "id": "socket.electrical",
      "type": "medium-for",
      "note": "a device that enables electrical energy flow"
    }
  ],
  "used_by": [
    "browser.software",
    "camera.visual",
    "car.transport",
    "computer.digital",
    "download.digital",
    "electronic.electrical",
    "electronics.electrical",
    "email.digital",
    "engine.tool",
    "equipment.tool",
    "fax.communication",
    "hardware.physical",
    "internet.digital",
    "key.tool",
    "machine.constructed-system",
    "operating.active",
    "phone.electrical",
    "plug.electrical",
    "printer.tool",
    "radio.electrical",
    "server.digital",
    "smith.metalwork",
    "socket.electrical",
    "software.digital",
    "tech.tool",
    "technology.tool",
    "tools.tool",
    "use.application",
    "watch.tool"
  ],
  "forms": [
    "device",
    "devices"
  ],
  "closed": true,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "openrouter:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.6,
    "reconciled": {
      "by": "openrouter:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
      "date": "2026-07-31",
      "changed": "components",
      "note": "Added 'flow.movement' and 'make.verb' to components to align with the definition's reliance on energy flow and constructed persistence."
    }
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-device.tool"
}