Word.ws English Dictionary

blunt instruments

blunt instruments is the plural of blunt instrument.

Meaning of blunt instrument

Noun

blunt instrument (plural blunt instruments)

  1. (literally) An object lacking sharp surfaces, especially as used to cause injury.
    • One deep wound had been inflicted upon the temple, apparently with some blunt instrument, which had penetrated the brain.1851, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, The Murdered Cousin
  2. (figuratively) A thing, person, method, or resource which is not sufficiently precise or not sufficiently effective for its intended role or use.
    • The analyst is in a sense a blunt instrument, but he can work as somebody who cares, and I think a good analyst makes the patient feel that he has value.1987, Iris Murdoch, in John Haffenden, Novelists in Interview, p. 202

Questions about blunt instruments

What is blunt instruments the plural of?
Blunt instruments is the plural of blunt instrument.

Words near blunt instruments in the dictionary

  1. Blunsdon
  2. Blunstone
  3. Blunstones
  4. blunt
  5. blunt instrument
  6. blunt instruments
  7. blunt-nosed viper
  8. blunt-nosed vipers
  9. blunt-witted
  10. bluntable
  11. blunted

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: blunt instruments (page history and authors); blunt instrument (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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