Noun

(en noun)

A device used to produce music.

The violinist was a master of her instrument .

A means or agency for achieving an effect.

* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=

, title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“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. […]”}}

A measuring or displaying device.

The instrument detected an increase in radioactivity.

A tool, implement used for manipulation or measurement.

The dentist set down his tray of instruments'''.'' The scientist recorded the temperature with a thermometer but wished he had a more accurate ' instrument ."

(legal) A legal document, such as a contract, deed, trust, mortgage, power, indenture, or will.

A bond indenture is the instrument that gives a bond its value.

Negotiable instruments are the foundation of the debt markets.

(figuratively) A person used as a mere tool for achieving a goal.

* Shakespeare

Or useful serving man and instrument , / To any sovereign state.

* Dryden

The bold are but the instruments of the wise.

Noun

(uncountable) The practical aspects of a given art, occupation etc.; formal requirements.

* 1924 , HE Wortham, A Musical Odyssey , p. 97:

Brahms, after realizing that the technique of the piano was developing along mistaken lines, and his own danger of stereotyping his style, keeps away from it for most of his middle age [...].

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Catherine Clabby

, magazine=(American Scientist), title= Focus on Everything , passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.}}

(uncountable) Practical ability in some given field or practice, often as opposed to creativity or imaginative skill.

* 2011 , "Bhimsen Joshi", The Economist , 3 Feb 2011:

Yet those who packed concert halls to listen to him sing, as Indians did for over six decades, rarely mentioned his technique .

(label) a method of achieving something or carrying something out, especially one requiring some skill or knowledge.

* 2011 , Paul Lewis & Matthew Taylor, The Guardian , 16 Mar 2011:

They said executives were warned about one technique nicknamed "carpet karaoke", which involved bending deportees over in aircraft seats to silence them.