- instance
- instance n Instance, case, illustration, example, sample, specimen mean a concrete thing which has or manifests the qualities, characters, or nature of a type, a class, or a group.Instance applies to an individual person or thing brought forth in support or disproof of a general statement{
the instance may be rejected, but the principle abides— Cardozo
}{Herodotus is a shining instance of the strong Greek bent to examine and prove or disprove— Edith Hamilton
}or as a means of indicating the character of a class{this novel is a good instance of his best work
}{the patterns on the breasts are an instance of the formalism of the period— Saunders
}Case applies to an act, situation, condition, or event demonstrating the occurrence or the existence of something which is being considered, studied, investigated, or dealt with or exhibiting it in actual operation{cite cases of bribes given as payments for services never performed
}{students of the effects of poverty now base their conclusions on cases actually investigated
}{there has been no case of malaria in this section for three years
}Illustration applies to an instance adduced or cited as a means of throwing light upon what has been explained or discussed in general terms{give several illustrations of the use of a word in a particular sense
}{cites indiscriminately . . . materials of such different value that they provide illustration rather than documentation of his points— Dinkier
}Example (see also MODEL) applies to a typical, representative, or illustrative instance or case{if I were asked to define what this gentle manliness is, I should say that it is only to be defined by examples— Byron
}{it is impossible to study a writer without examples of his work
}{a most outstanding example of a war fought with a purpose was our own American Revolution— Willkie
}A sample is a usually randomly selected part or unit of a whole presumed to be typical or representative of the whole from which it is taken{knowledge of the deep ocean floor comes from . . . bottom samples— Shepard
}{passed out samples of a new candy
}{when I deal in wine, cloth, or cheese, I will give samples, but of verse never— Cowper
}Specimen and sample are often used without distinction, but specimen is more often the choice when the whole is composed of discrete units that are independent entities{a dwarf planet, revolving round a dwarf sun, which is an average undistinguished specimen of a large class of elderly stars which have seen better days— Inge
}{there were a few boomtowns in the Middle West, but the finest specimens began to be seen only with the discoveries of gold and silver in the Far West— Harlow
}instance vb *mention, name, specify
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
