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Instance   /ˈɪnstəns/   Listen
noun
Instance  n.  
1.
The act or quality of being instant or pressing; urgency; solicitation; application; suggestion; motion. "Undertook at her instance to restore them."
2.
That which is instant or urgent; motive. (Obs.) "The instances that second marriage move Are base respects of thrift, but none of love."
3.
Occasion; order of occurrence. "These seem as if, in the time of Edward I., they were drawn up into the form of a law, in the first instance."
4.
That which offers itself or is offered as an illustrative case; something cited in proof or exemplification; a case occurring; an example; as, we could find no instance of poisoning in the town within the past year. "Most remarkable instances of suffering."
5.
A token; a sign; a symptom or indication.
Causes of instance, those which proceed at the solicitation of some party.
Court of first instance, the court by which a case is first tried.
For instance, by way of example or illustration; for example.
Instance Court (Law), the Court of Admiralty acting within its ordinary jurisdiction, as distinguished from its action as a prize court.
Synonyms: Example; case. See Example.


verb
Instance  v. t.  (past & past part. instanced; pres. part. instancing)  To mention as a case or example; to refer to; to cite; as, to instance a fact. "I shall not instance an abstruse author."


Instance  v. i.  To give an example. (Obs.) "This story doth not only instance in kingdoms, but in families too."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Instance" Quotes from Famous Books



... this the language of Abraham. "Thou art fair, my wife. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister; that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee." The first is an instance of poetic amplification and abandon; we should contend, for the last, that it expresses poetic tenderness and delicacy. In the one case, passion is diffuse,—in the other, concentrated. Which is the more natural, ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. IV, No. 22, Aug., 1859 • Various
... was addressed, in the first instance, specially to Martha. It had a primary reference, doubtless, to the vast miracle which was on the eve of performance. But there were more hearts to comfort and souls to cheer than one; that Almighty Saviour ...
— Memories of Bethany • John Ross Macduff
... the highest appointments in the state are conferred, as it happens elsewhere, by some favourable accident, or by the caprice of the monarch. A striking instance of this kind was displayed in the person of Ho-tchung-tang, the last prime minister of the late Kien-long. This man, a Tartar, happened to be placed on guard in the palace, where his youth and comely countenance struck the Emperor so forcibly ...
— Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey thr • John Barrow
... and with a picturesque snake fence on either side. Beyond the fences lay the fields, some of them with stubble raked clean, the next year's clover showing green above the yellow, some with the grain standing still in the shock, and some with the crop, the late oats for instance, still uncut, but ready for the reaper. The turnip field was splendidly and luxuriantly green with never a sign of the brown earth. The hay meadow, too, was green and purple with the ...
— Corporal Cameron • Ralph Connor
... our neighbours might interest you,' said Lord Creedmore. 'There's Mr. Van Torp, for instance, the American millionaire. His ...
— The Primadonna • F. Marion Crawford


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