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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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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

The satellite's ocean and land color instrument has already delivered detailed images of landscapes and coastlines, while its radar altimeter has produced encouraging measurements of ocean and ice sheet elevations.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

One possibility would be for the European Commission to deploy a legal instrument known as the "blocking mechanism".

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

The longer the life of a debt instrument, the more investors are left exposed to changes in interest rates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

The simplest thing to do is to find recordings of quality music and play songs with an even, steady beat and have children move, clap, tap, patsch, hit an instrument, or walk to that beat.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

The work has brought the observatory's powerful instruments into exceptionally sharp focus, with its main camera system now delivering image quality nearly 30% better than predicted.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

Rather than relying on visible light, these instruments detect microwave energy naturally emitted by Earth's surface.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 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

The satellites are equipped with matching sets of instruments that continuously gather information about the oceans, land, atmosphere, and cryosphere, which includes Earth's frozen regions.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

“Melanie’s parents are so thoughtful and decided band instruments were the perfect gifts for triplets. Because our house isn’t noisy enough on any given Tuesday.”

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

The Blue Origin spacecraft will also carry an instrumented lunar surface spacesuit mass simulator.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

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

The initial design for the lab, to be built over the next 5 years at the University of Idaho, calls for 24 richly instrumented soil columns topped with airtight chambers for vegetation.

From Science Magazine ● Oct. 12, 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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