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Instrument — meaning in English

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English meaning

  • device noun A piece of equipment, especially electronic or mechanical, built to perform a specific job.
  • instrument noun A tool, especially a precise one used for measuring, medical work, or scientific tasks.
  • tool noun A physical device used to carry out a task, especially one held in the hand.
  • vehicle noun A machine used to carry or transport people, goods, or objects, such as a car, truck, or bus.

Senses

Instrument is used for these senses in English:

  • device A project or scheme, often designed to deceive; a stratagem; an artifice. 1602, Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor. "This is our device,/ That Falstaff at that oak shall meet with us."
  • instrument A device used to produce music.
  • instrument A measuring or displaying device.
  • instrument A tool, implement used for manipulation or measurement.
  • tool Any physical device meant to ease or do a task.
  • tool Any piece of equipment used in a profession, such as a craftsman's.
  • tool A person or group which is used or controlled, usually unwittingly, by another person or group, a pawn.
  • vehicle A medium for expression of talent or views.

device — full definition

  1. noun A piece of equipment, especially electronic or mechanical, built to perform a specific job.
  2. noun A scheme or trick, often meant to deceive or gain advantage.
  3. noun A technique a writer or speaker uses deliberately to create an effect, such as a rhetorical or literary device.

instrument — full definition

  1. noun A tool, especially a precise one used for measuring, medical work, or scientific tasks.
  2. noun A device used to produce music.
  3. noun A person or thing used to achieve a particular purpose, often by someone else.

Related German words