example
Americannoun
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examples
plural
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one of a number of things, or a part of something, taken to show the character of the whole.
This painting is an example of his early work.
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a pattern or model, as of something to be imitated or avoided.
to set a good example.
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an instance serving for illustration; a representative case.
The case histories gave carefully detailed examples of this disease.
- Synonyms:
- representative, prototype, instance, illustration, exemplification, exemplar, case
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an instance illustrating a rule or method, as a mathematical problem proposed for solution.
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an instance, especially of punishment, serving as a warning to others.
Public executions were meant to be examples to the populace.
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a precedent; parallel case.
an action without example.
verb (used with object)
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examples,
present (3rd person singular)
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exampled,
past participle, past
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exampling
present participle
noun
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a specimen or instance that is typical of the group or set of which it forms part; sample
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a person, action, thing, etc, that is worthy of imitation; pattern
you must set an example to the younger children
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a precedent, illustration of a principle, or model
an example in a maths book
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a punishment or the recipient of a punishment serving or intended to serve as a warning
the headmaster made an example of him
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as an illustration; for instance
verb
Synonym Usage
Example, sample, specimen refer to an individual phenomenon taken as representative of a type, or to a part representative of the whole. Example is used of an object, condition, etc., that is assumed to illustrate a certain principle or standard: a good example of baroque architecture. Sample refers to a small portion of a substance or to a single representative of a group or type that is intended to show what the rest of the substance or the group is like: a sample of yarn. Specimen usually suggests that the “sample” chosen is intended to serve a scientific or technical purpose: a blood specimen; zoological specimens. See ideal. See case 1.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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examplesimple
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examplessimple
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have exampledperfect
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has exampledperfect
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am examplingprogressive
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are examplingprogressive
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is examplingprogressive
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have been examplingperfect progressive
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has been examplingperfect progressive
Past
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exampledsimple
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had exampledperfect
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was examplingprogressive
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were examplingprogressive
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had been examplingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of example
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English exa(u)mple, from Middle French example, from Latin exemplum, akin to eximere “to take out,” from ex- ex- 1 + emere “to buy,” originally “to take”; replacing Middle English exemple, from Latin, as above
Explanation
An example is a particular instance of something that is representative of a group, or an illustration of something that's been generally described. Example comes from the Latin word for "specimen." If you want an example of mainstream teen fashion, find a 13-year old in a mall. If you set a good example, then you show your peers how they should behave. But if you’re an unrepentant criminal and you keep getting in trouble, a judge might give you a really long prison sentence, as an example to other unrepentant criminals out there.
Vocabulary lists containing example
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Argumentative Writing
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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:
The council did not intercede, for example, two years ago when LA28 stopped its previous practice of naming contractors that it had paid more than $1 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Employees, however, might view it as a lost opportunity to shine or an example of how you don’t fully trust him or her to make a decision.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
On Instagram for example, when you turn off the algorithm, you can't see direct messages or access your profile and settings.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
When I asked if the robots could load the dishwasher, for example, Pinkerton said yes, but caveated that they’ve broken a dish before while working with a customer who agreed to the risk.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
A bond backed entirely by subprime mortgages, for example, wasn’t called a subprime mortgage bond.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Past examples of companies repeatedly coming to that market for funding included Tyco and Enron.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
The BBC also contacted a number of healthcare organisations whose logos appeared on Synetal Solutions' website as examples of employers where graduates had worked.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
After the outlets sued, the White House Press Office sent the organizations letters listing examples of articles it said “threatened national security and/or spread falsehoods.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
The secretary’s examples of Western heroism were the Spartans at Thermopylae and the philosopher Socrates, both of whom, he said, illustrate the “Western” willingness to “pay any cost for a cause worthy of his loyalty.”
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026
The first edition provides two examples of such errors.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
“We’ve made tremendous progress, and that progress is exampled all across the state of California — but not equally,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2022
Among the new locations are any place children “gather,” with exampled such as playgrounds, daycare facilities and school bus stops.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 27, 2021
The Arbitration Treaty form is well exampled in the German-Czecho-Slovakian treaty of 22 articles.
From Time Magazine Archive
Dicky, already zealous at work as exampled in rush bag-making, listened with wistful pride.
From A Child of the Jago by Arthur Morrison
Nothing in its well exampled kind is better touched off than the Listomere coterie, from the shrewdness of Monsieur de Bourbonne to the selfishness of Madame de Listomere.
From The Celibates by Katharine Prescott Wormeley
In an ecstasy of tender contemplation he turns from those to these, exampling Julia from the rose and pitying the hapless violets as though they were indeed not blooms insensitive but actually ‘poor girls neglected.’
From Views and Reviews Essays in appreciation by William Ernest Henley
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
