instrument

A negotiable instrument. Uniform Negotiable Instruments L § 2; UCC § 3-102(1)(e). A negotiable instrument or a security or any other writing evidencing a right to the payment of money, and of a type transferred in the ordinary course of business by delivery with any necessary endorsement or assignment. UCC § 9-105(1)(g). A writing or document, such as a contract deed or mortgage. Cardenas v Miller, 108 Cal 250, 39 P 783, 41 P 472. Compare Nash v Rehmann Bros. (CA8 Iowa) 53 F2d 624 (holding that the bilateral nature of a contract may preclude it from falling within the meaning of the term "instrument"). A tool; a device for performing work or accomplishing a purpose, sometimes the performance of highly skilled services, such as those of a physician, surgeon, or dentist. An inclusive term where it appears in a statute respecting the mode of committing an offense. Lee v State, 66 Tex Crim 567, 148 SW 567. Inclusive of a substance, such as carbolic acid. Lee v State, 66 Tex Crim 567, 148 SW 567. In a very broad sense, things animate and inanimate, even witnesses presented to the court in the process of producing evidence upon a trial. Cardenas v Miller, 108 Cal 250, 39 P 783, 41 P 472. As used in an exemption statute:–a usable article employed as a means to effect an end. 31 Am J2d Exemp § 53. See implement; tool.