EXAMPLE • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Example

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/ɪgzˈæmpəl/ Listen

noun

Example n.

1.

One or a portion taken to show the character or quality of the whole; a sample; a specimen.

2.

That which is to be followed or imitated as a model; a pattern or copy. "For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." "I gave, thou sayest, the example; I led the way."

3.

That which resembles or corresponds with something else; a precedent; a model. "Such temperate order in so fierce a cause Doth want example."

4.

That which is to be avoided; one selected for punishment and to serve as a warning; a warning. "Hang him; he'll be made an example." "Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted."

5.

An instance serving for illustration of a rule or precept, especially a problem to be solved, or a case to be determined, as an exercise in the application of the rules of any study or branch of science; as, in trigonometry and grammar, the principles and rules are illustrated by examples.

Synonyms: Precedent; case; instance. Example, Instance. The discrimination to be made between these two words relates to cases in which we give "instances" or "examples" of things done. An instance denotes the single case then "standing" before us; if there be others like it, the word does not express this fact. On the contrary, an example is one of an entire class of like things, and should be a true representative or sample of that class. Hence, an example proves a rule or regular course of things; an instance simply points out what may be true only in the case presented. A man's life may be filled up with examples of the self-command and kindness which marked his character, and may present only a solitary instance of haste or severity. Hence, the word "example" should never be used to describe what stands singly and alone. We do, however, sometimes apply the word instance to what is really an example, because we are not thinking of the latter under this aspect, but solely as a case which "stands before us." See Precedent.

verb

Example v. t. (past & past part. exampled; pres. part. exampling) To set an example for; to give a precedent for; to exemplify; to give an instance of; to instance. (Obs.) "I may example my digression by some mighty precedent." "Burke devoted himself to this duty with a fervid assiduity that has not often been exampled, and has never been surpassed."

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Etymology of 'Example'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Example" Quotes from Famous Books

... back to the cave for the goods later," said Lieutenant Peterson. "We certainly must rescue young Morris and make an example of those ...

— On the Trail of Pontiac • Edward Stratemeyer

... going to trust to your discretion by telling you my little story. I was once travelling on a ship going to America—at that time I was very unhappy. I was quite alone. My husband had recently died. I have been very lucky in my life—you are an example." ...

— War-time Silhouettes • Stephen Hudson

... and, giving up belief in descent from a wolf, might look back to a fancied ancestor named Claudius. The result of these changes will be that an exogamous totem kin, with female descent, has become a gens, with male kinship, and only the faintest trace of exogamy. An example of somewhat similar processes must have occurred in the Highland clans after the introduction of Christianity, when the chief's Christian name became the patronymic of the people who claimed kinship with him ...

— Custom and Myth • Andrew Lang

... To temporarily enter techno-nerd mode while in a non-hackish context, for example at parties held near computer equipment. Especially used when you need to do something highly technical and don't have time to explain: "Pardon me while I geek out for a ...

— THE JARGON FILE, VERSION 2.9.10

... cloistered virgins; and our Abbess, who was famed for her austerities, boasted that, like holy Sylvia the nun, she never touched water save to bathe her finger-tips before receiving the Sacrament. With such an example before them, the nuns were obliged to conform to the same pious rule, and many, having been bred in the convent from infancy, regarded all ablutions with horror, and felt no temptation to cleanse the filth from their flesh; but I, who had bathed daily, had the freshness of clear water in my ...

— The Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories • Edith Wharton

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