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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.

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By combining two advanced microscopy techniques, the instrument achieves a resolution of approximately 120 nanometers, an unprecedented level of detail for an approach that does not require fluorescent labels.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

It’s hard when you’ve spent 32 years of your adult life with Peter Buck — it’s hard to find someone who has that same enthusiasm and love of the instrument.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

It would also examine why the Cali Fund -- a UN financial instrument launched in February 2025 aiming to attract $1 billion a year in corporate contributions -- had raised only $6,000.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

The code has evolved from an instrument designed to create wealth to one designed to preserve it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

As always, the best way to perform such notes depends on the instrument and the style of the music.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Detecting fires beneath a rainforest canopy can be surprisingly difficult, even with sophisticated instruments in orbit.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026

The team expects future observations using multiple wavelengths and similarly precise instruments to uncover a wider range of elements in exoplanet atmospheres.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

Shylock’s pound of flesh invokes this divine commandment, which would have been familiar to everyone in early modern Europe as governments began using bonds as financial instruments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Its instruments have also begun measuring ocean heights and the elevation of Greenland's massive ice sheet, providing an early demonstration of technology designed to monitor Earth's changing climate.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Children are able to discern the timbre of a sound from a very young age, including the vocal timbres of peers, relatives, and teachers, as well as the timbres of different instruments.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

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

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

"This is the most heavily instrumented vehicle we will ever fly so we will get a tremendous amount of engineering data on vibration and temperature and stress, acoustics," said Mr Shannon.

From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2021

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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