instructions
Britishplural noun
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directions, orders, or recommended rules for guidance, use, etc
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law the facts and details relating to a case given by a client to his solicitor or by a solicitor to a barrister with directions to conduct the case
to take instructions
Explanation
You know those days when you just can’t seem to remember how to do the simplest tasks? If only everything came with instructions: a guide to operating the toothpaste tube, or a manual showing you how to pour cereal. Instructions is related to the verb instruct, meaning “teach.” Instructions are sets of information that teach you how to do something or use something. The more we use technology to make our lives easier, the more we need to read instructions to help us learn how to use the technology. After all, you can’t let your robotic poodle-groomer loose on your poodle until you figure out how it works first.
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.
PL0344, turned out to be a previously unknown species with a rare change in how it reads DNA instructions and builds proteins.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2026
Several US outlets have reported a statement from his lawyers which says that Peters was "following the instructions of a licensed airboat guide", and that "no animals or people were harmed" during the incident.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
These work like punctuation marks in the genetic instructions, signaling that protein construction should stop.
From Science Daily • May 7, 2026
There are laminated instructions in each room, including a reminder about no food or drink in the pods.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
My instructions from Babs are to bring a jacket and a good pair of walking shoes.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
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.
