Instinct
['ɪnstɪŋ(k)t] or ['ɪnstɪŋkt]
Definition
(noun.) inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli; 'the spawning instinct in salmon'; 'altruistic instincts in social animals'.
(adj.) (followed by `with')deeply filled or permeated; 'imbued with the spirit of the Reformation'; 'words instinct with love'; 'it is replete with misery' .
Typist: Wilhelmina--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Urged or stimulated from within; naturally moved or impelled; imbued; animated; alive; quick; as, birds instinct with life.
(a.) Natural inward impulse; unconscious, involuntary, or unreasoning prompting to any mode of action, whether bodily, or mental, without a distinct apprehension of the end or object to be accomplished.
(a.) Specif., the natural, unreasoning, impulse by which an animal is guided to the performance of any action, without of improvement in the method.
(a.) A natural aptitude or knack; a predilection; as, an instinct for order; to be modest by instinct.
(v. t.) To impress, as an animating power, or instinct.
Typed by Gilda
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Natural impulse.
Checked by Evan
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Prompting, impulse, intuition, inclination
ANT:Reason, reasoning, abstraction, deliberation, experience, experiment,elaboration, judgment
Checker: Virgil
Definition
n. impulse: an involuntary prompting to action: intuition: the mental aspect of those actions which take rank between unconscious reflex activities and intelligent conduct: the natural impulse by which animals are guided apparently independent of reason or experience.—adj. (in-stingkt′) instigated or incited: moved: animated.—adj. Instinc′tive prompted by instinct: involuntary: acting according to or determined by natural impulse.—adv. Instinc′tively.—n. Instinctiv′ity (rare).
Editor: Nicolas
Examples
- It's not an instinct, it's a habit of cowardliness. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Nothing in my powers or instinct placed me amongst this brave band. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- It is in the nature and instinct of some women. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- A look of terror came over the sweet smiling face, and she clung to George as by an instinct. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Is it the secret instinct of decaying nature, or the soul's impulsive throb, as immortality draws on? Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- The forewarning of my instinct was but fulfilled, when I discovered her, all cold and vigilant, perched like a white bird on the outside of the bed. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- All this Caroline knew, partly by instinct, partly by observation. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It must, however, be admitted that in many instances we cannot conjecture whether it was instinct or structure which first varied. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Even when a person is frightened by threats into doing something, the threats work only because the person has an instinct of fear. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- What shall we say to the instinct which leads the bee to make cells, and which has practically anticipated the discoveries of profound mathematicians? Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- This faculty, or instinct, was now rouzed. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- The nomadic instinct can not be educated out of an Indian at all. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Nothing could be more agreeable than his frank and courteous bearing, or adapted with a more gentlemanly instinct to the circumstances of his visit. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- In this extremity his instinct led him to Gudrun. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Her woman's instinct had told her that it was George who had interrupted the success of her first love-passage, and she esteemed him accordingly. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- He knew he should have to go slowly, and the instincts of his race fitted him to suffer rebuffs and put up with delays. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Gerty's compassionate instincts, responding to the swift call of habit, swept aside all her reluctances. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- What is it but the worst and last form of intellectualism, this love of yours for passion and the animal instincts? D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Doesn't it destroy all our spontaneity, all our instincts? D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- She constantly evinced these nice perceptions and delicate instincts. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- We can thus understand why nature moves by graduated steps in endowing different animals of the same class with their several instincts. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Thirdly, can instincts be acquired and modified through natural selection? Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- The idea of property arises out of the combative instincts of the species. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- In managing the wild instincts of the scarce manageable _bête fauve_ my powers would revel. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- All my medical instincts rose up against that laugh. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- If left to himself his instincts would have been either to return to King's Pyland or go over to Mapleton. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- No donkeys ever existed that were as hard to navigate as these, I think, or that had so many vile, exasperating instincts. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- You know what woman's instincts are. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- He had succeeded in stealing the government of his country, and made a change in its form against the wishes and instincts of his people. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Ants, however, work by inherited instincts and by inherited organs or tools, while man works by acquired knowledge and manufactured instruments. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Checker: Phyllis