instance
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a particular example or case of something happening.
n.an individual occurrence or a case offered as an exemplification of a general rule or trend.
Simple“This is just one instance of the problem, but there are many others.”
In context“The report cited several instances where the safety protocols had been ignored by the night shift staff.”
Synonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
n.a single copy of a computer program or a database that is currently running.
n.a specific realization of any object in computing, such as a running process, a database, or an object in object-oriented programming.
Simple“You can run more than one instance of the app at the same time.”
In context“The cloud architect recommended launching a separate instance of the database to handle the increased traffic from the marketing campaign.”
Synonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
n.an independent server on a social network like Mastodon.
n.an independent server that runs a specific software protocol within a federated or decentralized network.
Simple“I decided to join a smaller instance of the social network to find people with similar hobbies.”
In context“Users on one instance can still communicate with those on another, provided the servers are federated correctly.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
n.a private copy of a game area created just for you or your group.
n.a separate copy of a game environment created for a specific player or party, isolating them from the rest of the game world.
Simple“Our group entered the instance to fight the boss without any other players interfering.”
In context“The developers used instancing to ensure that popular quest locations did not become overcrowded during peak hours.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
v.to give something as an example.
v.to cite or mention a particular case as an illustrative example.
Simple“The professor instanced the recent economic crisis to explain his theory.”
In context“The author instances several historical revolutions to support her argument regarding social inequality.”
UsageThis verb is transitive and requires a direct object.
Usage instance one · instances of plagiarism · national instance
“For instance, drowsiness can make it more difficult to think clearly and be experienced as brain fog.”
“It will not apply if a player is down and the ball naturally goes out of play, for instance for a throw or goal-kick.”
Borrowed from Middle French instance, from Latin īnstantia (“a being near, presence, also perseverance, earnestness, importunity, urgency”), from īnstāns (“urgent”); see instant.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.