instances

Noun

instance (countable and uncountable, plural instances)

1. (obsolete) Urgency of manner or words; an urgent request; insistence.
   • I know one very well alied, to whom, at the instance of a brother of his[…], I spake to that purpose[…].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 8, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
2. (obsolete) A token; a sign; a symptom or indication.
   • It sends some precious instance of itself/ After the thing it loves.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
3. (obsolete) That which is urgent; motive.
   • The instances that second marriage move
     Are base respects of thrift, but none of love.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
4. (obsolete) A piece of evidence; a proof or sign (of something).
   • The reason that I gather he is mad, Besides this present instance of his rage, Is a mad tale he told to day at dinner […]c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
5. An occasion; an order of occurrence.
   • The Statutes, or Acts of Parliament themſelves. Theſe ſeem, as if in the Time of Edw[ard] I. they were drawn up into the Form of a Law in the firſt Inſtance, and ſo aſſented to by both Houſes, and the King, as may appear by the very Obſervation of the Contexture and Fabrick of the Statutes of thoſe...1713, [Matthew Hale], “Concerning the Distribution of the Laws of England into Common Law, and Statute Law. And First, Concerning the Statute Law, or Acts of Parliament.”, in The History of the...
6. A case offered as an exemplification or a precedent; an illustrative example.
   • August 30, 1706, Francis Atterbury, a sermon preach'd in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, at the funeral of Mr. Tho. Bennet
     most remarkable instances of suffering

See all 15 meanings of instance