instrument

instrument — noun

1. A physical object built for creating music when someone plays it — pianos, guita

1.nounA1
Definition

A physical object built for creating music when someone plays it — pianos, guitars, flutes, and drums are all examples.

Example

Élise has been learning to play the piano, her favourite instrument, since she was six.

collocation: play + instrument

The orchestra uses more than fifty different instruments, including violins and drums.

Common collocations
  • play an instrument
  • musical instrument
  • learn an instrument
  • wind instrument
  • string instrument
Synonyms

Usage Note

This is the most common meaning of 'instrument'. Use 'play the [instrument]' or 'play an instrument' to talk about performing music.

2. A hand-powered tool or piece of equipment designed for a specific job, especiall

2.nounB1
Definition

A hand-powered tool or piece of equipment designed for a specific job, especially in medicine, science, or craft work.

Example

The surgeon asked for a clean instrument before making the first cut.

collocation: surgical instrument

Caleb keeps his wood-carving instruments in a leather roll to protect the sharp blades.

Common collocations
  • surgical instrument
  • scientific instrument
  • precision instrument
  • laboratory instrument
Synonyms
  • tool

    more general; any object used to do work

  • implement

    more formal, often for farming or manual work

  • device

    broader, includes electronic and mechanical items

Common Mistakes

I bought a new instrument to hang the picture.
I bought a new tool to hang the picture.
For simple household tasks, 'tool' is more natural than 'instrument'.

3. A gauge, dial, or display panel inside a vehicle that shows information such as

3.nounB2
Definition

A gauge, dial, or display panel inside a vehicle that shows information such as speed, altitude, fuel level, or engine temperature.

Example

The pilot checked her instruments before beginning the descent toward the runway.

collocation: flight instrument

When the fuel gauge stopped working, Noa knew one of the dashboard instruments needed repair.

Common collocations
  • flight instrument
  • dashboard instrument
  • instrument panel
  • instrument cluster
Synonyms
  • gauge

    more specific; refers to a single measuring device like a fuel gauge

  • meter

    similar to gauge; often for speedometers or voltage meters

  • dial

    refers to the circular display face of an instrument

4. Something that someone uses as a way to get a result or make something happen, e

4.nounB2
Definition

Something that someone uses as a way to get a result or make something happen, especially in a deliberate or planned way.

Example

For Yara, growing up in rural Ghana, education was a powerful instrument for building a better future.

pattern: instrument for [verb]-ing

The Camp David Accords served as an instrument of peace between Egypt and Israel for more than forty years.

pattern: instrument of [noun]

Common collocations
  • instrument of change
  • instrument of power
  • instrument of policy
  • serve as an instrument
Synonyms
  • means

    more neutral; describes how something is done

  • tool

    less formal; sounds less strategic than 'instrument'

  • vehicle

    also used metaphorically, e.g. 'a vehicle for change'

Grammar Patterns

instrument of [noun]

instrument for [verb]-ing

5. A financial product such as a bond, share, or contract that can be bought, sold,

5.nounC1
Definition

A financial product such as a bond, share, or contract that can be bought, sold, or traded on financial markets.

Example

In 2023, Toyota issued ten-year bonds — a type of debt instrument — to raise two billion dollars for its electric-vehicle factories.

collocation: debt instrument

A London investment bank trades complex financial instruments, including derivatives linked to oil prices and global currency rates.

collocation: financial instrument

Common collocations
  • financial instrument
  • debt instrument
  • derivative instrument
  • tradable instrument
Synonyms
  • security

    more specific; a financial asset that can be traded, like stocks or bonds

  • asset

    broader; anything of value owned by a person or company

6. Someone used and directed by a more powerful person to serve that person's own a

6.nounC1
Definition

Someone used and directed by a more powerful person to serve that person's own aims, without being able to choose freely.

Example

The general felt he had been treated as a mere instrument of the dictator's ambitions.

pattern: instrument of [powerful entity]

In the novel, the young soldier is an instrument of the empire, carrying out orders without question.

Common collocations
  • instrument of the state
  • mere instrument
  • become an instrument of
Synonyms
  • pawn

    from chess; suggests being used in a larger scheme

  • tool

    more informal but similar; 'he was a tool of the corporation'

  • puppet

    suggests open control by someone else

Antonyms
  • master

    the person who does the controlling

Grammar Patterns

instrument of [noun]

Common Mistakes

My assistant is my instrument for organizing meetings.
The manager treated the interns as instruments of the company's expansion.
'Instrument' for a person implies being used against their will, not just helping.

instrument — verb

Word family

  • instrumental
    adjectiveB2
  • instrumentally
    adverbC1
  • instrumentalist
    nounB2
  • instrumentation
    nounC1
  • instrumentality
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Musical instrument' is the full, unambiguous term for objects used to make music (pianos, guitars, drums), while 'instrument' alone is the shortened form used in everyday speech. In the broader tool sense (noun-2), 'instrument', 'tool', 'device', and 'implement' overlap but differ in scope and connotation. 'Tool' is the most general word for any handheld object used to do work — a hammer, a chisel, a screwdriver. 'Instrument' implies more precision or skill, making it the preferred word in surgery, dentistry, and laboratory science. 'Device' is broader and includes electronic or mechanical equipment — a smartphone, a heart monitor, a thermostat. 'Implement' tends to be more formal and is often used for farming or gardening equipment. The choice depends on context: a dentist uses 'dental instruments', not 'dental tools'; a farmer uses 'farm implements', not 'farm instruments'.

musical instrumenttool ↗device ↗implement ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • instrument maker
  • instrument panel
  • instrument landing
  • instrument cluster

Adverbs

Phrases

  • by instrument of
  • act as an instrument
  • instrument of choice

Prepositions

  • as an instrument of
  • instrument for
  • instrument in

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

'Instrument' entered English in the 13th century from Old French 'instrument', which came from Latin 'instrumentum' — a tool, implement, or apparatus. The Latin word is built from 'instruere' ('to build, construct, arrange'), a combination of 'in-' ('in, on') and 'struere' ('to build, pile up'). The musical sense developed in the 16th century, while the financial and legal senses emerged in the 17th–18th centuries as specialized extensions of the core idea of a 'tool for achieving something'.