instruments

Noun

instrument (plural instruments)

1. A device used to produce music.
   • The violinist was a master of her instrument.
2. A means or agency for achieving an aspect.
   • “There the cause of death was soon ascertained ; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom. […]”1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening &...
3. A measuring or displaying device.
   • The instrument detected an increase in radioactivity.
4. A tool, implement used for manipulation or measurement.
   • The dentist set down his tray of instruments.
5. A legal document, such as a contract, deed, trust, mortgage, power, indenture, or will, or any of a class of negotiable ones (which can be exchanged for value or money).
   • A bond indenture is the instrument that gives a bond its value.
6. (figuratively) A person used as a mere tool for achieving a goal.
   • Or useful serving man and instrument, / To any sovereign state.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

See all 9 meanings of instrument