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

(en noun)

(sciences) A standard measure of a quantity.

The centimetre is a unit of length.

The number one.

This pill provides 500 units of Vitamin E.

An organized group comprising people and/or equipment.

He was a member of a special police unit .

(military, informal) A member of a military organization.

The fifth tank brigade moved in with 20 units .'' (''i.e., 20 tanks )

(US, military) Any military element whose structure is prescribed by competent authority, such as a table of organization and equipment; specifically, part of an organizationJoint Publication 1-02 U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms; 12 April 2001 (As Amended Through 14 April 2006). .

(US, military) An organization title of a subdivision of a group in a task force.

(US, military) A standard or basic quantity into which an item of supply is divided, issued or used. In this meaning, also called unit of issue.

(US, military) With regard to Reserve Components of the Armed Forces, denotes a Selected Reserve unit organized, equipped, and trained for mobilization to serve on active duty as a unit or to augment or be augmented by another unit. Headquarters and support functions without wartime missions are not considered units.

(algebra) An element of a ring having a multiplicative inverse. (Formerly just the identity element 1_R of a ring.)

(geology) A volume of rock or ice of identifiable origin and age range that is defined by the distinctive and dominant, easily mapped and recognizable petrographic, lithologic or paleontologic features (facies) that characterize it.

(commerce) An item which may be sold singly.

We shipped nearly twice as many units this month as last month.

(UK, electricity) One kilowatt-hour (as recorded on an electricity meter).

(Australia, New Zealand) a measure of housing equivalent to the living quarters of one household, an apartment where a group of apartments is contained in one or more multi-storied buildings or a group of dwellings is in one or more single storey buildings, usually arranged around a driveway.

(historical) A gold coin of the reign of James I, worth twenty shillings.

(Camden)