Old pirate misused instrument going through locks (9)

I believe the answer is:

depilator

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'instrument going through locks' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'old pirate misused' is the wordplay.
'misused' indicates anagramming the letters.
'old'+'pirate'='oldpirate'
'oldpirate' anagrammed gives 'DEPILATOR'.

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I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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