From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishinstrumentalin‧stru‧men‧tal1 /ˌɪnstrəˈmentl◂/ adjective 1 → be instrumental in (doing) something2 APMinstrumental music is for instruments, not for voices —instrumentally adverb
Examples from the Corpus
instrumental• The presentation was divided into three sections, the first being instrumental.• Strangely the instrumental chapters are spread throughout the book in no logical order.• There are a few other forms of experimental instrumental conditioning, such as discrete trials and shaping.• He had made Mark's life a misery, been instrumental in his death.• Yaki, who was instrumental in negotiating the leases as an aide to Rep.• He has been instrumental in the complete change in my appearance - a good hairdresser is a very valuable asset!• Vocal and instrumental timbres: symbiosis Curiously, the timbre of an instrument always resembles vocal timbre.instrumentalinstrumental2 noun [countable] APMa piece of music in which no voices are used, only instrumentsExamples from the Corpus
instrumental• Expect instrumentals, funky numbers and some soulful jazz vocals from one Marie Harper.• Duane Eddy and his Gretsch guitar said it all on his instrumentals cut between 1958 and 1960.• Most of the instrumentals are simply variations of past themes, but who cares?• It plays the instrumentals over a photo of the artist. 