[lucb1e]

Without having to open the man page:

    $ whatis ab
    ab (1)               - Apache HTTP server benchmarking tool

Or with bsd-games installed:

    $ wtf ab
    ab: ab (1)               - Apache HTTP server benchmarking tool

[thameera]

Is there a similar tool to see what a certain option in a command does, without opening the man page?

[joshferg]

If you just type the command in you should see a list of options and what they do.

[mryan]

Probably best not to try this on any systems you care about if the command is completely unknown. killall on Solaris might have some unintended consequences.

[lucb1e]

You probably know, but try -h or --help behind the command.