serving or acting as a means or aid; " instrumental in solving the crime"

relating to or designed for or performed on musical instruments; " instrumental compositions"; " an instrumental ensemble"

Helpful.

Acting as an instrument; serving as a means; contributing to promote; conductive; helpful; serviceable; as, he was instrumental in conducting the business.

Pertaining to, made by, or prepared for, an instrument, esp. a musical instrument; as, instrumental music, distinguished from vocal music.

Applied to a case expressing means or agency; as, the instrumental case. This is found in Sanskrit as a separate case, but in Greek it was merged into the dative, and in Latin into the ablative. In Old English it was a separate case, but has disappeared, leaving only a few anomalous forms.

Pertaining to, or done by, an instrument; helping to bring about some end; helpful.

Instrumentally.

Done by the aid of mechanical appliances.

Acting as an instrument or means: serving to promote an object: helpful: belonging to or produced by musical instruments.

Acting as an instrument; conducive; produced by instruments.

Instrumentality.

Fitted for or played upon musical instruments.

Conducive, as an instrument or means, to some end; pertaining to music arising from instruments, as instrumental music.

Pert. to an instrument; serving to promote or effect some object; not vocal, as instrumental music.

You may know, perhaps, that he was instrumental in placing little Aileen Armagh, the orphan child,- you know whom I mean? – Flamsted quarries by Mary E. Waller

The instrumental part of the project was a little altered, to accommodate it to the time and to bring things more gradually and more surely to the one great end proposed. – The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. I. (of 12) by Edmund Burke

She had nursed a poor sick man on the way to Portugal; on the way back she was instrumental in saving the lives of many men. – Mary Wollstonecraft by Elizabeth Robins Pennell

Their music, vocal and instrumental, is excellent, and their preachers seek no pay from the Governor out of the taxes. – Toronto of Old by Henry Scadding

He entertained at first great hopes of a reprieve, at least in order to be transported, and for obtaining it he spent a great deal of time writing to several friends who he thought might be instrumental in procuring it. – Lives Of The Most Remarkable Criminals Who have been Condemned and Executed for Murder, the Highway, Housebreaking, Street Robberies, Coining or other offences by Arthur L. Hayward

It made for a good deal in my affection for him that I had been instrumental in rescuing him from that living death he had suffered for so many years, for I have found over and over again in my own experience that one of the surest ways of learning to love a man is to do him a good turn. – In Direst Peril by David Christie Murray

If Royal Maillot was instrumental in Felix Page's death, he was so innocently. – The Paternoster Ruby by Charles Edmonds Walk

On the contrary, every man of them seemed to know that Ned had come home from the school which he had been attending in England, and that he had been instrumental in procuring powder and bullets for them and for the Mexican army. – Ahead of the Army by W. O. Stoddard

" I am his secretary, and was largely instrumental in securing his nomination for governor," was the simple reply. – The Mayor's Wife by Anna Katherine Green

It was, however, invaluable for him, the future Commander of the instrumental tone- world, to have served in the line. – Beethoven: A Memoir (2nd Ed.) by Elliott Graeme

However, as I can hear of no such accident, and as Mr. Clifton is here continually, I hope I have been instrumental in preventing such absurd guilt. – Anna St. Ives by Thomas Holcroft

The evening passed very pleasantly with vocal, instrumental music, etc. – The-Chignecto-Isthmus-and-its-first-settlers by Trueman, Howard

In the midst of the disorder, on the bare floor, walked the man who, more than any other, had been instrumental in drawing the Huguenots to Paris- and to their doom. – Historical Romances: Under the Red Robe, Count Hannibal, A Gentleman of France by Stanley J. Weyman

Gerard had begun to think he might even be instrumental in getting him out of his drinking habits. – The Luck of Gerard Ridgeley by Bertram Mitford

Whereupon the judge shook hands with her, and did not deny that he had been instrumental in the matter. – The Complete PG Edition of The Works of Winston Churchill by Winston Churchill

When two causes so combine to produce an effect that one of them uses the other the former is called the principal and the latter the instrumental cause. – Ontology or the Theory of Being by Peter Coffey

He soon became a mighty power in the land; vast crowds waited on his ministrations, which were instrumental in producing a great revival of religious interest, and improved morality among the people. – A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin

It was instrumental in obtaining much needed space and assisting generally in the progress which took place. – Report of the Chief Librarian for the Year Ended 31 March 1958: Special Centennial Issue by J. O. Wilson and General Assembly Library (New Zealand)

He knows that it is the imaginative faculty of the poet that has been largely instrumental in building up every religious system. – The Poet's Poet by Elizabeth Atkins

Under the energetic and effective labors of the Leader and his talented lady, this society was instrumental in the conversion of many souls. – Thirty Years in the Itinerancy by Wesson Gage Miller