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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:

Without the "Big Bang" power saving effort, the Voyager team would have needed to turn off another instrument aboard Voyager 2 before the end of 2026.

From Science Daily Aug. 10, 2026

Young and experienced performers have taken part in competitions in more than 180 categories including solo instrument, marching bands and Céilí dancing.

From BBC Aug. 9, 2026

“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

Never look at the Sun through binoculars, a telescope, or a camera unless a solar filter designed for the front of the instrument is securely attached.

From Science Daily Aug. 5, 2026

What an instrument is made of has a direct effect on its timbre.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

The newly freed power is expected to keep the spacecraft's three remaining instruments operating for at least one additional year.

From Science Daily Aug. 10, 2026

Insurers held about $480 billion worth of privately rated debt instruments in 2025, more than 10 times their $47 billion value in 2018, when companies first began disclosing their use, the Journal’s analysis shows.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 7, 2026

Extended instruments depend on the combination or multiplication of already existing components.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 7, 2026

Egan-Jones issued ratings for more than a quarter of those instruments, based on the Journal’s analysis of disclosures made by six ratings firms.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 7, 2026

These instruments would have been played both for the enjoyment of the crew and to provide them a rhythm as they raised and lowered the ship’s sails.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

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

From Science Daily Dec. 21, 2025

Then we browsed the For You page feed for each sockpuppet, recording what we saw via WebArchive.page, a specially instrumented web browser that archives all the data involved in a browsing session locally.

From Washington Post Mar. 30, 2023

When NASA’s most powerful rocket ever attempts its first flight this month, its highest profile payload will be three instrumented mannequins, setting off on a 42-day journey beyond the Moon and back.

From Science Magazine Aug. 15, 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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