instance

American  

[in-stuhns] / ˈɪn stəns /

noun

• instances
  plural

1. a case or occurrence of anything.

   fresh instances of oppression.

2. an example put forth in proof or illustration.

   to cite a few instances.

3. Also called instanced dungeon.  (in an online multiplayer video game) a zone, as a dungeon, to which access is limited to a player or group of players entering simultaneously and working together: each instance is one copy of the zone in which the quests, enemies, items, events, etc., are staged exclusively for the player or group accessing it, without interference from other player characters in the larger online population of the game server.

4. Law. the institution and prosecution of a case.

5. Archaic. urgency in speech or action.

6. Obsolete. an impelling motive.

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verb (used with object)

• instances,
  present (3rd person singular)
• instanced,
  past participle,  past
• instancing
  present participle

1. to cite as an instance or example.

2. to exemplify by an instance.

3. (in an online multiplayer video game) to design (a zone) as a set of identical copies, staged exclusively for the player or group accessing it, without interference from the larger population of the game server, thereby presenting key narrative elements or achievements in a controlled environment.

   The game developers instanced a winter wonderland with special quests for the holiday event.

verb (used without object)

• instances,
  present (3rd person singular)
• instanced,
  past participle,  past
• instancing
  present participle

1. to cite an instance.

idioms

1. at the instance of, at the urging or suggestion of.

   He applied for the assistantship at the instance of his professor.

2. for instance, as an example; for example.

   If you were to go to Italy, for instance, you would get a different perspective on our culture.

instance British  

/ ˈɪnstəns /

noun

1. a case or particular example

2. for or as an example

3. a specified stage in proceedings; step (in the phrases in the first, second, etc, instance )

4. urgent request or demand (esp in the phrase at the instance of )

5. logic

   1. an expression derived from another by instantiation

   2. See substitution

6. archaic motive or reason

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verb

1. to cite as an example

instance More Idioms  

1. see under for example.

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Synonym Usage

See case ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• counterinstance
  noun
• uninstanced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• instances
  plural

Participles

• instancing
  present
• instanced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• instance
  simple
• instances
  simple
• have instanced
  perfect
• has instanced
  perfect
• am instancing
  progressive
• are instancing
  progressive
• is instancing
  progressive
• have been instancing
  perfect progressive
• has been instancing
  perfect progressive

Past

• instanced
  simple
• had instanced
  perfect
• was instancing
  progressive
• were instancing
  progressive
• had been instancing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will instance
  simple
• will have instanced
  perfect
• will be instancing
  progressive
• will have been instancing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of instance

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English instaunce, from Middle French instance, from Medieval Latin īnstantia “case, example” ( Latin “presence, immediate applicability; earnestness, urgency”); see origin at instant, -ance

Explanation

An instance is a specific example or case of something. One instance of being chased by a growling dog can make a person spend his whole life being afraid of animals. It's common to find instance used in the expression "for instance," meaning "for example." Bright colors — for instance, pink, green, and blue — can cheer you up when you're feeling sad. Instance can also mean "occurrence." Several instances of cheating might be reported after a math test, for example. In the sixteenth century, the Medieval Latin word instantia meant "example to the contrary," leading to an early definition of instance as "single objection."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

instance instances instanced instancing

"I think it really is about putting people over profit in this instance, and particularly women and girls' safety," she said.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Those that make a sound when a stretched membrane is struck or otherwise manipulated—think, for instance, of a drum—they called membranophones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

For instance, people who felt lonely may have sought out more interaction, even when those encounters did not provide the support they needed.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

For instance, they only count households that have retirement accounts at all.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

“For instance, Adam was at the Snack Shack getting a soda at the time.”

From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon

In a new court document filed Monday, Apple described OpenAI's actions as "repeated instances of deliberate theft."

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

The findings represent the latest in a flurry of publicly disclosed instances of AI models taking novel steps—including some that are nefarious—to ace tests.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

There are some instances when that may change, such as in the event the second marriage ends in an annulment, divorce or death.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

The district letter notes repeated alleged instances in which Carvalho did not report his work as a consultant for $500 or $600 an hour related to education matters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Moreover, there was reason to suppose that all four had been bound by the same person: in all four instances the same type of knot, a half hitch, was used.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

As such, players can expect to wait longer than normal to log into game servers, visit new Endwalker specific areas, and experience instanced content-like duties.

From The Verge ● Nov. 30, 2021

The FX we’d used earlier were now composed of millions of these instanced pieces, and she was having a hard time loading them all because it took up so much memory.

From The Verge ● Jan. 30, 2019

World and all the other potential character builds and instanced stories in the offing.

From Time ● Sep. 11, 2012

The next day I instanced a rather apt example.

From Jungle Peace by Beebe, William

One little fellow, more than once instanced in this work, a single child brought up wholly by his mother, perpetrated his first fib when he was about twenty-two months old.

From Children's Ways by Sully, James

The Vanderpools were sure of this and the Englishman, instancing India, became quite eloquent.

From The Quest of the Silver Fleece A Novel by Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt)

And after instancing a number of these stories "which deserve the gravest condemnation," he enjoins that God must be represented as he is in reality.

From Christianity and Greek Philosophy or, the relation between spontaneous and reflective thought in Greece and the positive teaching of Christ and His Apostles by Cocker, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin)

He states also that the verse writer who aims at producing no illusion but addresses the understanding is not a poet, instancing Virgil when in the Georgics he describes a cow fit for breeding.

From The Literature of Ecstasy by Mordell, Albert

Hazlitt stated that there were some prose works that approached poetry without absolutely being poetry, instancing Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress, and the Decameron.

From The Literature of Ecstasy by Mordell, Albert

Mencius, instancing the practice of the ancient kings Wan and Woo under similar circumstances, replies that, unless the voice of the people invites the invader to take possession, he is not justified in so doing.

From Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution (Volume I) by Lindley, Augustus F.

Related Words

• detail
• example
• item
• occasion
• occurrence
• particular
• precedent
• proof
• reason