instrument

instrument

/ˈɪnstrəmənt/

​

(also musical instrument)

1 an object used for producing musical sounds, for example a piano or a drum

to play an instrument

Is he learning an instrument?

percussion/brass/string instruments

an instrument maker

Collocations

adjective

verb + instrument

learn to play

instrument + verb

instrument + noun

preposition

on an/​the instrument

2 a tool or device used for a particular task, especially for specialist or scientific work

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

instrument for something

Instruments for diagnosis and surgery have become hugely more sophisticated.

instrument for doing something

the world's most powerful instrument for detecting gamma rays

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.

4 ​(formal) something that is used by somebody in order to achieve something; a person or thing that makes something happen

instrument for (doing) something

The law is not the best instrument for dealing with family matters.

instrument of something

an instrument of change

​5 instrument of somebody/something (formal) 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 (law) a formal legal document

credit instruments issued by banks

Word Origin

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