INSTANCE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Instance

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/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."

See images of 'Instance'

Etymology of 'Instance'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Instance" Quotes from Famous Books

... men have to work against overwhelming odds in the detection of crime. Many and devious are the ways of men whose hand is against the law. Surely is the best detective a mere babe in the hands of a clever criminal. In this instance the very thing that Horrocks was in search of was about to be forced upon him. For underlying that information ...

— The Story of the Foss River Ranch • Ridgwell Cullum

... alternative you propose? True, I fear no man. But to be continually engaged in quarrels would acquire me the character of a desperado." "Indeed," said sir William, "you have been somewhat lavish in those sort of affairs, but I do not see how you can be off in the present instance. Prettyman has heard of the bustle you made about the fellow at the ball, that tricked you of your partner; and he will never pardon the affront, if you pay less attention to him." "Pox take the blockhead, he is mighty nice, methinks, in his temper. I ...

— Damon and Delia - A Tale • William Godwin

... south from Ingolstadt on the news of Wallenstein's entry into Saxony he had left the Count Palatine of Birkenfeld and General Banner to maintain the Swedish conquests in Bavaria. These generals had in the first instance pressed their conquests southward as far as Lake Constance; but towards the end of the year the Bavarian General Altringer pressed them with so powerful an army that Banner sent urgent requests to Horn to come to his assistance from Alsace, where he had been ...

— The Lion of the North • G.A. Henty

... be considered as chimeras; on the contrary, they provide reason with a standard, which enables it to estimate, by comparison, the degree of incompleteness in the objects presented to it. But to aim at realizing the ideal in an example in the world of experience—to describe, for instance, the character of the perfectly wise man in a romance—is impracticable. Nay more, there is something absurd in the attempt; and the result must be little edifying, as the natural limitations, which are ...

— The Critique of Pure Reason • Immanuel Kant

... conformity to his original. Without this we are in danger of losing not only the metrical, but the general effect of the Latin; we express ourselves in a different compass, and the character of the expression is altered accordingly. For instance, one of Horace's leading features is his occasional sententiousness. It is this, perhaps more than anything else, that has made him a storehouse of quotations. He condenses a general truth in a few words, and thus makes his ...

— Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace • Horace

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