precision instrument

Meaning

1. 1nouncountabletechnical

   A tool or device built to measure, cut or control something with extremely small margins of error.

   Grammar: Countable: a precision instrument, many precision instruments.

   Patterns

   • a precision instrument for something
   • use a precision instrument

   A micrometer is a precision instrument for measuring tiny thicknesses.

   The watchmaker keeps her precision instruments in a padded case.

   Dropping a precision instrument can ruin its accuracy.

Word forms

Common combinations

calibrate a precision instrument

Technicians calibrate each precision instrument before use.

delicate precision instrument

The telescope is a delicate precision instrument.

manufacture precision instruments

The company manufactures precision instruments for laboratories.

precision instrument maker

He trained as a precision instrument maker in Switzerland.

handle with care

Handle the precision instrument with great care.

Synonyms and how they differ

gauge

Gauge is a simpler device that measures one quantity, such as pressure, while precision instrument suggests high accuracy of any kind.

measuring device

Measuring device is a plain phrase that does not say how accurate the tool is, unlike precision instrument.

scientific instrument

Scientific instrument refers to tools used in research, whereas a precision instrument may also serve manufacturing or medicine.

Word family

precision noun

exactness and accuracy

precise adjective

exact and accurate

precisely adverb

in an exact way

instrument noun

a tool or device for a task

Commonly confused: precision instrument or accurate instrument?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “precision instrument”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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