Word Direct Answers

What does "instance" mean?

Instance: That which is instant or urgent; motive. [Obs.] The instances that second marriage move Are base respects of thrift, but none of love. Shak.

Additional senses

  1. 2.Occasion; order of occurrence. These seem as if, in the time of Edward I., they were drawn up into the form of a law, in the first instance. Sir M. Hale.
  2. 3.That which offers itself or is offered as an illustrative case; something cited in proof or exemplification; a case occurring; an example. Most remarkable instances of suffering. Atterbury.
  3. 4.A token; a sign; a symptom or indication. Shak. Causes of instance, those which proceed at the solicitation of some party. Hallifax. -- Court of first instance, the court by which a case is first tried. -- For instance, by way of example or illustration. -- Instance Court (Law), the Court of Admiralty acting within its ordinary jurisdiction, as distinguished from its action as a prize court. See Example.
  4. 5.To mention as a case or example; to refer to; to cite; as, to instance a fact. H. Spenser. I shall not instance an abstruse author. Milton.
  5. 6.To give an example. [Obs.] This story doth not only instance in kingdoms, but in families too. Jer. Taylor.

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