Word.ws English Dictionary

example

Syllables: ex·am·pleUK/ɪɡˈzɑːm.pəl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/ɪɡˈzam.pəl/

example noun: something that is representative of all such things in a group.

Noun

example (plural examples)

  1. Something that is representative of all such things in a group.
    • If Demandt's essay served as a strident example of the German desire for normalcy, a more subtle example was provided by a brief allohistorical depiction of a Nazi victory in World War II written by German historian Michael Salewski in 1999.2005 May 23, Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, The World Hitler Never Made: Alternate History and the Memory of Nazism, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 182
    • The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26
  2. Something that serves to illustrate or explain a rule.
    • Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected...2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3
  3. Something that serves as a pattern of behaviour to be imitated (a good example) or not to be imitated (a bad example).
    • Nelson Mandela was an example for many to follow.
    • For I haue giuen you an example, that yee ſhould doe, as I haue done to you.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 13:15, column 1
  4. A person punished as a warning to others.
    • […]hang him, hee'le be made an example.c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    • Now theſe things were our examples, to the intent wee ſhould not luſt after euil things, as they alſo luſted.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 10:6, column 2
  5. A parallel or closely similar case, especially when serving as a precedent or model.
    • Such temperate order in ſo fierce a cauſe, / Doth want example:[…]c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  6. An instance (as a problem to be solved) serving to illustrate the rule or precept or to act as an exercise in the application of the rule.

Verb

example (third-person singular simple present examples, present participle exampling, simple past and past participle exampled)

  1. To be illustrated or exemplified (by).

example meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

example in Hindi

something representative of a group
नमूना namūnā, मिसाल misāl, उदाहरण udāhraṇ, निदर्शन nidarśan
something serving to explain or illustrate a rule
उदाहरण udāhraṇ, नमूना namūnā, मिसाल misāl

example in Tamil

something representative of a group
எடுத்துக்காட்டு eṭuttukkāṭṭu
something serving to explain or illustrate a rule
எடுத்துக்காட்டு eṭuttukkāṭṭu, உதாரணம் utāraṇam

example in Marathi

example, instance, model, illustration
उदाहरण udāhraṇ

example in Urdu

something representative of a group
مِثال misāl, نَمُونَہ namūna
More languagesFewer languages
example in Bengali
নমুনা nomuna
example in Telugu
ఉదాహరణము udāharaṇamu
example in Malayalam
ഉദാഹരണം udāharaṇaṁ
example in Kannada
ಹೆಸರಿಕೆ, ಉದಾಹರಣೆ, ದೃಷ್ಟಾಂತ, ನಿದರ್ಶನ
example in Punjabi
ਉਦਾਹਰਨ udāhran, ਮਿਸਾਲ misāl
example in Gujarati
ઉદાહરણ udāharaṇ
example in Odia
ଉଦାହରଣ
example in Sanskrit
उदाहरण udāharaṇa
example in Assamese
আৰ্হি arhi
example in Nepali
उदाहरण udāharaṇ
example in Pashto
مثال mesāl, نمونه namuna
example in Tagalog
halimbawa, ehemplo
example in Arabic
مِثَال miṯāl, مَثَل maṯal, أُمْثُولَة ʔumṯūla
example in Malay
contoh, misal, uswah, teladan
example in Indonesian
misal, contoh, teladan
example in Thai
ตัวอย่าง dtuua-yàang
example in Vietnamese
ví dụ
example in Myanmar
နမူနာ na.muna, ပြယုဂ် pra.yug

Examples of example in a sentence

  • A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
  • I gave, thou ſay'ſt, th' example, / I led the way;1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […]...
  • Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge,[…]1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter IV, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London...

All 40 example sentences with example

Synonyms of example

All synonyms of example

Forms of example

Noun
pluralexamples
alternative formex.
Verb
third-person singular presentexamples
present participleexampling
past participleexampled
pastexampled

Plural of example: examples

Origin of example

From Middle English example, exaumple, from Old French example, essaumple, from Latin exemplum (“sample, pattern, specimen, copy for imitation, etc.”, literally “what is taken out”); see exempt. Doublet of exemplum and sample. Displaced native Middle English forebisne, from Old English forebȳsn; and Middle English bisne, from Old English bȳsn (modern English bizen).

Words formed from example

Phrases with example

Words that rhyme with example

Questions about example

What does example mean?
Example means something that is representative of all such things in a group.
What is example in Hindi?
Example in Hindi is नमूना (namūnā), मिसाल (misāl), उदाहरण (udāhraṇ). See Example meaning in Hindi.
How do you use example in a sentence?
A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.
What part of speech is example?
Example can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce example?
Example is pronounced /ɪɡˈzɑːm.pəl/ (UK).
What is the plural of example?
The plural of example is examples.

Words near example in the dictionary

  1. examming
  2. examorelin
  3. examplar
  4. examplars
  5. examplary
  6. example
  7. example in point
  8. exampled
  9. Exampleland
  10. Examplelands
  11. exampleless

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: example (page history and authors); उदाहरण (Marathi) (page history and authors); example (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ઉદાહરણ (Gujarati) (page history and authors); example (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); আৰ্হি (Assamese) (page history and authors); उदाहरण (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-example.ogg.

Cite this entry: “example.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/example. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.