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Glite Dictionary
🔄 To reorganize 🏭 To add new equipment
to retool

to retool

1 6.7
Give a factory new tools or machines so it can make different products
  • verb
  • /ˌriːˈtuːl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : reequipar
  • Last week, Amazon said it has sold out of the Kindle Fire, a sign that it retooled its production lines for a successor.
  • retooling the factory
  • retooling the plant

There were, I mean, we all the factories had been retooled.

Examples

  • Like the previous message states, the car was probably manufactured in late 1941, before the auto plants retooled for the war effort.

    Blog text (9)

  • The production line's been retooled to make military versions of the helmet.

    Brainstorm (1983)

  • In Memphis, TN, the electronics company Sharp retooled an old plant to become the largest U.S. producer of solar panels.

    Academic text (2009)

  • Throughout the months of January and February, 1942, automakers shut down car production, warehoused their tools, and retooled to manufacture needed war materiel.

    Blog text (9)

  • CSN's labor force was downsized from 24,000 workers to just fewer than 17,000, and its production system was significantly retooled to reduce costs and increase output (Netto 1993).

    Academic text (1998)

  • The factory was retooled to produce electric vehicles instead of gasoline ones.

  • After the merger, they decided to retool their production processes to enhance efficiency.

  • To meet new market demands, the company plans to retool its assembly line with advanced machinery.

Synonyms

to retrofit
vsto retool
12 6.5

To add new parts or equipment to something old to make it work better

focuses on equipping to adapt production rather than only updating old machines
to refit
vsto retool
3 3.9

To add new parts or fix something so it works again

emphasizes changing tools to suit new production rather than repair work
to rejig
vsto retool
  • Informal
1 7.0

To change the machines and how a factory works to make it work better

is about equipping for new production rather than reorganizing workflows
to regear
vsto retool
7.2

To give someone new tools or equipment for a task

is about changing tools to adapt production needs
to re-equip
vsto retool
4.9

To give new machines or tools to a place after replacing old ones

is focused on equipping to meet new production requirements
to reequip
vsto retool
4.9

To give new equipment after old equipment is lost or broken

is used when tools are changed to adapt production rather than replace loss

Antonyms

to dismantle
64 4.2

Take something apart into separate pieces

How Thorough

overhaul
73 5.1
to retool
  • Specialized
1 6.7
retrofit
15 6.4
to upgrade
177 3.5
to equip
276 3.2

Surface Forms

retool infinitive
retooled past
retooled past participle
retooling present participle
retools third person singular

Morphology

retool = tool (transparent) = re + tool

This is standard prefixation from the verb 'tool', and 'retool' clearly means to tool again or anew for a new purpose.

Etymology

Retool comes from re- 'again' and tool 'something you use to do a job'. It once meant giving a workshop new tools, so to retool a factory is to give it new machines or equipment.