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 exhibition features work from artists forced into exile, silenced or persecuted and Zhemkova said it was a good example of Memorial's work outside Russia.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Nvidia has a history of knowing where to invest to maintain its chip dominance, and one analyst sees its acquisition of Hugging Face as the latest example.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
In the build-it-or-buy-it debate, this is the ultimate example of buying to avoid the massive capital needed to develop proprietary models, or so the argument goes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Summer is the busiest time of year for iceberg activity in Greenland's glacier-fed fjords, and 2026 delivered a particularly dramatic example.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
No doubt it was the similarity of their gaits that prompted Penelope’s memory, but the two had little else in common: For example, Dr. Westminster was extremely clever and Bertha was not clever at all.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
One wishes that the show had expanded its scope to include more examples of how that happened, and what artistic lessons each group took from the other.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
This week in the Don’t Short Yourself newsletter, Genna Contino provided numerous examples of how you can save a ton of money by haggling.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
"They're still in the expansion phase," said Osborn, pointing to Madagascar, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville as examples.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
Other examples include combinations like purple sweet potato ice cream, cheesecake with carrot compote, or chocolate bars loaded with salty potato chips.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
Contemporary examples of these two different kinds of governments are the Turk and the King of France.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
“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
But to the ardent youngsters who fought beneath his banner it was his to give a something priceless and unique—a something glorious to France and never before exampled in her literature.
From Views and Reviews Essays in appreciation by William Ernest Henley
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
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.
