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A lightweight JavaScript package for English word definitions and collections.
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{
"term": "instinct",
"partOfSpeech": "noun",
"ox5000": true,
"cefr": "c1",
"definitions": [
{
"senseNumber": 1,
"definition": "a natural quality that makes people and animals tend to behave in a particular way using the knowledge and abilities that they were born with rather than thought or training",
"sensetop": "by instinctinstinct (is) to do somethinginstinct for (doing) something",
"cefr": "c1",
"examples": [
{
"text": "She did not seem to have any of the usual **maternal instincts**."
},
{
"text": "Children do not know by instinct the difference between right and wrong.",
"contextForm": "by instinct"
},
{
"text": "His first instinct was to run away.",
"contextForm": "instinct (is) to do something"
},
{
"text": "Horses have a well-developed instinct for fear.",
"contextForm": "instinct for (doing) something"
},
{
"text": "Even at school, he showed he **had an instinct for** *(= was naturally good at)* business."
},
{
"text": "Artists have to learn to be guided by their instincts."
},
{
"text": "Babies know by instinct who their mother is."
},
{
"text": "Both superpowers shared the same instinct for self-preservation."
},
{
"text": "He has an instinct for survival in a tough job."
},
{
"text": "Her instincts took over and she dived on the escaping thief."
},
{
"text": "In negotiating you have to develop an instinct for when to be tough and when to make a deal."
},
{
"text": "They accused the campaign of appealing to the electorate's baser instincts."
},
{
"text": "Why don't you just follow your natural instincts?"
},
{
"text": "Most people have a well-developed survival instinct."
},
{
"text": "She has a definite instinct for business."
},
{
"text": "The instinct for migration seems to be programmed into some birds and not others."
}
],
"topics": ["Biology"],
"collocations": {
"adjective": ["deep", "powerful", "strong"],
"verb + instinct": ["have", "possess", "lack"],
"instinct + verb": [
"tell somebody something",
"drive somebody",
"guide somebody"
],
"preposition": ["by instinct", "on instinct", "instinct for"]
}
},
{
"senseNumber": 2,
"definition": "a feeling that makes you do something or believe that something is true, even though it is not based on facts or reason",
"sensetop": "instinct about somebody/somethinginstinct for…on instinct",
"cefr": "c1",
"examples": [
{
"text": "I've always **trusted my instincts** in the past."
},
{
"text": "It's best to **follow your** first **instincts** in matters like this."
},
{
"text": "Her instincts about him had been right.",
"contextForm": "instinct about somebody/something"
},
{
"text": "He had a **gut instinct** for when people were lying to him.",
"contextForm": "instinct for…"
},
{
"text": "I acted purely on instinct.",
"contextForm": "on instinct"
},
{
"text": "Her instinct told her that she was being followed."
},
{
"text": "Out of pure instinct, he moved back a little."
},
{
"text": "Against her better instincts, she ran back into the burning house to save some of her jewellery."
}
],
"collocations": {
"adjective": ["deep", "powerful", "strong"],
"verb + instinct": ["have", "possess", "lack"],
"instinct + verb": [
"tell somebody something",
"drive somebody",
"guide somebody"
],
"preposition": ["by instinct", "on instinct", "instinct for"]
}
}
],
"pronunciations": {
"uk": [
{
"pronunciation": "/ˈɪnstɪŋkt/",
"audio": "in/instinct/instinct__gb_1.mp3"
}
],
"us": [
{
"pronunciation": "/ˈɪnstɪŋkt/",
"audio": "in/instinct/instinct__us_1.mp3"
}
]
},
"wordOrigin": "late Middle English (also in the sense ‘instigation, impulse’): from Latin instinctus ‘impulse’, from the verb instinguere, from in- ‘towards’ + stinguere ‘to prick’."
}