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# instrument

«instrument» in Mova's school dictionary: **a thing used to make music, like a piano, guitar, violin…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (instrument, instruments)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An instrument is a thing used to make music, like a piano, guitar, violin, flute or drum. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/#m1)

2) An instrument is also a tool for measuring or doing careful work, like a ruler, thermometer or a doctor's tools. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In maths: musical instruments counted in a band or shop, priced or compared; or a measuring instrument (ruler, protractor, scales). In music: string, wind, brass and percussion instruments. In science: instruments measure temperature, weight and time. Phrases: musical instrument, play an instrument, measuring instrument, string instrument.

### examples

- The band has 14 instruments. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/#x1)
- Each student plays one instrument. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/#x2)
- A violin costs $90 more than a flute. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/#x3)
- A thermometer is an instrument for measuring temperature. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/#x4)
- Which instrument do you play? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/#x5)
- The drum is a percussion instrument. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/#x6)
- A protractor is an instrument for measuring angles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/#x7)
- The pilot checked the instruments before take-off. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/#x8)
- Go down and ask him what the instrument costs.’ [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/#x9)

### note

Countable. «Play an instrument», «play the piano». Usually just the thing counted; no clue to the operation. Trap: in «a violin costs $90 more than a flute» the violin is the bigger price, so add.

### In the corpora

- [Many teachers suggest giving a new instrument at least a full term before deciding, and recording yourself shows your progress.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/3-practising-when-you-would-rather-not/15/)
- [The family of an instrument depends on how the sound is made, not on its material.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/16/)
- [The bandura is a Ukrainian plucked string instrument; modern concert banduras have around 55 to 65 strings.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/10-instruments-of-the-world-bandura-erhu-sitar-kora-didgeridoo/5/)
- [The steel pan was developed in Trinidad and Tobago in the 20th century from oil drums and is its national instrument.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/10-instruments-of-the-world-bandura-erhu-sitar-kora-didgeridoo/14/)
- [In the string family bigger instruments play lower: from highest to lowest they are violin, viola, cello and double bass.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/41-olympiad-music-puzzles/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «instrument» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/instrument/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.