Search results
- DictionaryIn·stinct
noun
- 1. an innate, typically fixed pattern of behavior in animals in response to certain stimuli: "birds have an instinct to build nests"
adjective
- 1. imbued or filled with (a quality, especially a desirable one): formal "these canvases are instinct with passion"
An instinct is something you don't need to learn — it happens naturally, without you even thinking about it. Babies cry by instinct, and ducks follow their mother by instinct. Animals and humans learn a lot of things from other animals and humans.
/ˈɪnstɪŋkt/ [uncountable, countable] 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. She did not seem to have any of the usual maternal instincts.
4 days ago · Word forms: plural instincts. 1. variable noun. Instinct is the natural tendency that a person or animal has to behave or react in a particular way. I didn't have as strong a maternal instinct as some other mothers. The basis for training relies on the dog's natural instinct to hunt and retrieve.
Definition of instinct – Learner’s Dictionary. instinct. noun [ C, U ] uk / ˈɪnstɪŋkt / us. Add to word list Add to word list. the way someone naturally reacts or behaves, without having to think or learn about it: [ + to do sth ] a mother's instinct to protect her children.
instinct (for something/for doing something) instinct (to do something) a natural tendency for people and animals to behave in a particular way, using the knowledge and abilities that they were born with rather than thought or training maternal instincts Children do not know by instinct the difference between right and wrong.
filled or infused with some animating principle (usually followed by with): instinct with life.
instinct, an inborn impulse or motivation to action typically performed in response to specific external stimuli. Today instinct is generally described as a stereotyped, apparently unlearned, genetically determined behaviour pattern.
