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Definitions

instrument

[in-struh-muhnt] / ˈɪn strə mənt /




Usage

What are other ways to say instrument? An instrument is anything used in doing a certain type of work or producing a certain result, especially such as requires delicacy, accuracy, or precision: surgical or musical instruments. A tool is a contrivance held in and worked by the hand, for assisting the work of (especially) mechanics or skilled laborers: a carpenter's tools. An implement is any tool or contrivance designed or used for a particular purpose: agricultural implements. A utensil is especially an article for domestic use: kitchen utensils. 

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

“The vessel was placed not at ground zero but 800 yards to the northwest, joining a ring of some of the closest-range instrument bunkers.”

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 7, 2026

Guitarists will be delighted—or mortified—to find that Mr. Satoh’s instrument comes with 12 whammy bars, making for endless pitch-bending possibilities.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 7, 2026

I definitely place more weight on ideas versus the discipline of playing an instrument.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 4, 2026

That distance was too great for the instrument to detect gamma rays coming from the planet, but scientists believed it might still register neutrons escaping from the Martian surface and atmosphere.

From Science Daily Jul. 28, 2026

Yet he’s made sure she got her instrument back unharmed.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

Then there are instruments that translate “the non-musical into the musical, and vice versa.”

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 7, 2026

And yet one group of instruments escaped them—those that are imaginary.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 7, 2026

The Journal identified 52 instruments across 79 rating actions where Egan-Jones and at least one other firm maintained an active credit rating.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 7, 2026

The authors begin with cosmic instruments and the ways people have used music to understand the world and their place in it.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 7, 2026

Elisha had calculated the supplies they’d need: salted meats, dried fruits, hard biscuits, scientific instruments, even smaller boats.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Because of these risks, the landslide area has been extensively instrumented since 2020.

From Science Daily Dec. 21, 2025

I worked at the facility from 1973 to 1976, and Metro’s 1000-series cars were instrumented and running around loops to identify problem areas.

From Washington Post Jan. 27, 2023

We're the only sport that has done this type of work with instrumented mouthguards.

From BBC Sep. 16, 2022

Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, a U.S. naval facility, is the world's largest instrumented, "multi-dimensional" testing and training missile range, according to the U.S.

From Fox News Feb. 22, 2022

We are unlikely to determine the answer to this question without landing instrumented space vehicles on the Titanian surface.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

“We are instrumenting the car in a way that is overloading the driver just like we were overloading the helicopter pilots,” said Strayer, director of the university’s Center for the Prevention of Distracted Driving.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 6, 2022

This can be a result of budgetary constraints, the difficulty of instrumenting treacherous volcanoes and, in some cases, red tape preventing the placement of sensors in wilderness areas.

From New York Times Nov. 9, 2021

“And we need to rethink what this instrumenting of the world — all that data being generated and collected — means for privacy and how all this data is used.”

From New York Times Aug. 4, 2015

Yet little has been done to probe the underlying crust and mantle, mainly because instrumenting the entire state is so expensive.

From Scientific American Nov. 5, 2013

Niels and I get to work carefully instrumenting the sleep logger and attaching it to the bird.

From New York Times Apr. 15, 2011




Vocabulary lists containing instrument


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