Instrument ˈɪnstrəmənt Extra Examples Maker Played Powerful Noun

• to play an instrument
• is he learning an instrument?
• percussion/brass/string instruments
• an instrument maker

instrument

1. an object used for producing musical sounds, for example a piano or a drum
• SEE ALSO stringed instrument
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/stringed-instrument
• to play an instrument
• Is he learning an instrument?
• percussion/brass/string instruments
• an instrument maker

Extra Examples

• Ensure the instrument is tuned to concert pitch.
• The instrument sounds like a cello.
• The piece can be played on a keyboard instrument.
• The score was written to be played on a keyboard instrument.
• an instrument made by a violin maker in Canada
• baroque music played on period instruments
2. a tool or device used for a particular task, especially for specialist or scientific work
• SEE ALSO blunt instrument (1)
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/blunt-instrument#bluntinstrument_sng_1
• surgical/optical/scientific instruments
• Scientists then began using powerful instruments to peer through the planet's dense atmosphere.
• syringes, needles or other sharp instruments
• medieval instruments of torture such as the rack and the wheel
• Instruments for diagnosis and surgery have become hugely more sophisticated.
• the world's most powerful instrument for detecting gamma rays

Extra Examples

• All pupils should learn to use drawing instruments.
• All the instruments are made from glass capillary tubing.
• a set of mathematical instruments
• This pen is the ideal precision instrument for all your graphic needs.
• The autopsy revealed that the deceased had been hit with a blunt instrument.
3. a device used for measuring speed, distance, temperature, etc. in a vehicle or on a machine
• data gathered by instruments aboard the satellite
• the flight instruments
• There was a warning light flashing on the instrument panel.

Extra Examples

• to read the instruments and make a note of the wind speed and direction
• an instrument that measures light intensity
• The pilot did his instrument checks in preparation for take-off.
4. something that is used by somebody in order to achieve something; a person or thing that makes something happen
• SEE ALSO blunt instrument (2)
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/blunt-instrument#bluntinstrument_sng_2
• The law is not the best instrument for dealing with family matters.
• an instrument of change

Extra Examples

• Even though it was a somewhat blunt instrument (= not very precise), our questionnaire provided us with some interesting ideas.
• Internet polls are considered to be better instruments than telephone polls.
• More effective instruments of oversight are needed.
• They agreed that the UN was the best instrument for reaching agreement.
• They saw criminal law as an instrument for improving public morals.
• the use of language as an instrument of power and social control
• Financial aid can become an instrument of control rather than a support.
• She was accused of making a public service an instrument of private advantage.
• Some cynics say that popular music is a mere instrument of capitalist domination.
5. a person who is used and controlled by somebody/something that is more powerful
• an instrument of fate
• The despot claimed to be the chosen instrument of divine providence.
6. a formal legal document
• SEE ALSO statutory instrument
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/statutory-instrument
• credit instruments issued by banks

Word Origin

• Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin instrumentum ‘equipment, implement’, from the verb instruere ‘construct, equip’.