Instance /(?)/

In·stance

Instance

n.
  1. The act or quality of being instant or pressing; urgency; solicitation; application; suggestion; motion.
    Undertook at her instance to restore them.
  2. That which is instant or urgent; motive. [Obs.]
    The instances that second marriage move Are base respects of thrift, but none of love.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. A token; a sign; a symptom or indication.

Phrases & Compounds
Causes of instance
those which proceed at the solicitation of some party.
Court of first instance
the court by which a case is first tried.
For instance
by way of example or illustration.
Instance Court
the Court of Admiralty acting within its ordinary jurisdiction, as distinguished from its action as a prize court.

Instance

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Instanced; p. pr. & vb. n. Instancing

  1. To mention as a case or example; to refer to; to cite; as, to instance a fact.
    I shall not instance an abstruse author.

Instance

v. i.
  1. To give an example. [Obs.]
    This story doth not only instance in kingdoms, but in families too.