meaning of instincts
1. Urged or stimulated from within; naturally moved or impelled; imbued; animated; alive; quick; as, birds instinct with life.
2. 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.
3. Specif. , the natural, unreasoning, impulse by which an animal is guided to the performance of any action, without of improvement in the method.
4. A natural aptitude or knack; a predilection; as, an instinct for order; to be modest by instinct.
5. To impress, as an animating power, or instinct.
6. inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli; "the spawning instinct in salmon"; "altruistic instincts in social
">animals"
Related Words
instinct | instinction | instinctive | instinctive reflex | instinctively | instinctivity |
