instance
Americannoun
-
instances
plural
-
a case or occurrence of anything.
fresh instances of oppression.
-
an example put forth in proof or illustration.
to cite a few instances.
-
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.
-
Law. the institution and prosecution of a case.
-
Archaic. urgency in speech or action.
-
Obsolete. an impelling motive.
verb (used with object)
-
instances,
present (3rd person singular)
-
instanced,
past participle, past
-
instancing
present participle
-
to cite as an instance or example.
-
to exemplify by an instance.
-
(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
idioms
-
at the instance of, at the urging or suggestion of.
He applied for the assistantship at the instance of his professor.
-
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.
noun
-
a case or particular example
-
for or as an example
-
a specified stage in proceedings; step (in the phrases in the first, second, etc, instance )
-
urgent request or demand (esp in the phrase at the instance of )
-
logic
-
an expression derived from another by instantiation
-
See substitution
-
-
archaic motive or reason
verb
Synonym Usage
See case 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
instancesimple
-
instancessimple
-
have instancedperfect
-
has instancedperfect
-
am instancingprogressive
-
are instancingprogressive
-
is instancingprogressive
-
have been instancingperfect progressive
-
has been instancingperfect progressive
Past
-
instancedsimple
-
had instancedperfect
-
was instancingprogressive
-
were instancingprogressive
-
had been instancingperfect progressive
Future
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."
Vocabulary lists containing instance
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Commonly Confused Words, List 2
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Commonly Confused Words, List 4
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
So, this year, for instance, the concerted moves higher in oil and commodity prices, and the pronounced downtrend in say, government bonds across the world, have been highly suited to trend investing.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Investigators, for instance, would not be able to conduct searches based solely on protests or other 1st Amendment-protected activities, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Sometimes I want the lemon flavor to be the whole point: a lemony avgolemono, for instance, or a chicken stew that tastes unabashedly citrusy.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
For instance, a Roth IRA passes income tax-free.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 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
Previous instances include nation-wide strikes against increasing the retirement age, and the 2018 yellow-vest protests about taxes on diesel fuel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
In other instances, such as in Louisiana, an AI law was enacted after the ad aired.
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2026
Quan said the reform is potentially helpful but said he knows of no instances in which commissions blocked an audit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The Charity Commission watchdog had banned Campbell in 2024 after identifying "multiple instances of misconduct" at her charity, Fashion for Relief.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
We know of countless later instances of magic which require only the crudest and most schematic kind of representation, such as two crossed sticks for a human figure.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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
That landscape painting may be of considerable value in assisting scientific exploration is instanced by an anecdote related to the writer by a geological friend.
From Art Principles With Special Reference to Painting Together with Notes on the Illusions Produced by the Painter by Ernest Govett
However, except of late, a precedent of this practice can hardly be instanced among the sufferers of Christ in former times, but, on the contrary, many have refused such offers.
From A Hind Let Loose Or, An Historical Representation of the Testimonies of the Church of Scotland for the Interest of Christ. With the True State Thereof in All Its Periods by Alexander Shields
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 Albert Mordell
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 Albert Mordell
Captain Cathie, in one of his bluffer moments, bluntly suggested wholesale marriage as a preventive of irregularities, and the starting of a new race on that basis, instancing the Pitcairners as typical resultants.
From White Fire by John Oxenham
He proved his wonderful theory by instancing a child playing with its mother, a symphony of Beethoven, and the life of Socrates!
From Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic by Benedetto Croce
That the highest intellects had been formed on Bible models she denied by instancing Shelley.
From Mystic London: or, Phases of occult life in the metropolis by Charles Maurice Davies
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
