instance
Americannoun
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instances
plural
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a case or occurrence of anything.
fresh instances of oppression.
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an example put forth in proof or illustration.
to cite a few instances.
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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.
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Law. the institution and prosecution of a case.
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Archaic. urgency in speech or action.
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Obsolete. an impelling motive.
verb (used with object)
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instances,
present (3rd person singular)
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instanced,
past participle, past
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instancing
present participle
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to cite as an instance or example.
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to exemplify by an instance.
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(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)
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instances,
present (3rd person singular)
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instanced,
past participle, past
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instancing
present participle
idioms
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at the instance of, at the urging or suggestion of.
He applied for the assistantship at the instance of his professor.
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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
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a case or particular example
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for or as an example
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a specified stage in proceedings; step (in the phrases in the first, second, etc, instance )
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urgent request or demand (esp in the phrase at the instance of )
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logic
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an expression derived from another by instantiation
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See substitution
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archaic motive or reason
verb
Synonym Usage
See case 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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instancesimple
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instancessimple
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have instancedperfect
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has instancedperfect
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am instancingprogressive
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are instancingprogressive
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is instancingprogressive
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have been instancingperfect progressive
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has been instancingperfect progressive
Past
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instancedsimple
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had instancedperfect
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was instancingprogressive
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were instancingprogressive
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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
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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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Commonly Confused Words, List 4
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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:
That means a willingness to master new skills and leapfrog colleagues who have more experience—for instance, by taking a weekend to figure out how to use new vibe-coding tools.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
"Like" counts, for instance, have been part of Meta since its early years, when it was still called Facebook and that was its only platform.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
"They'd asked for maybe 10 additional appliances to come in nationally, and we weren't able to provide them with the full 10 in the first instance," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Oxford Economics, for instance, estimates the richest 20% of households are now buying more than half of all the new cars in the country.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
In this instance, her hacking was more mischievous than malicious.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
There are some instances where paying the Starlink premium could be worth it:
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Egan-Jones had a lower grade in 18 instances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
In a new court document filed Monday, Apple described OpenAI's actions as "repeated instances of deliberate theft."
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
On Friday, the company found three instances out of thousands where its model Claude had managed to gain access to the internet.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Evidently, these columns were rarely to Lord Darlington's liking, for I can recall numerous instances of his looking up from a journal and saying something like: 'Young Reggie writing such nonsense again.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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 truth of these observations is strikingly instanced in a story told of Franklin in Pettigrew's Life of Lettsom.
From Benjamin Franklin; Self-Revealed, Volume II (of 2) A Biographical and Critical Study Based Mainly on his own Writings by Wiliam Cabell Bruce
Why, there were—he instanced names, well-known ones, of people who, he said, had gone and come back openly, frankly, determined demonstrators for the public good of the natural.
From The Pastor's Wife by Elizabeth von Arnim
It will suffice to adduce a proof of their moderation by instancing one matter.
From The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Titus Livius
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
We need not be afraid of instancing in the most favourable.
From Four Early Pamphlets by William Godwin
He had to show what he knew of publishers, instancing the Longmans.
From George Borrow in East Anglia by William A. (William Alfred) Dutt
Give me leave to show the inimitable softness and sweetness of the English Tongue, only by instancing in one Word.
From A Full Enquiry into the Nature of the Pastoral (1717) by Thomas Purney
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.
