- instinct
- nounADJECTIVE▪ deep, powerful, strong▪ gut▪ pure, sheer▪
Out of pure instinct, he moved back a little.
▪ first, initial▪His first instinct was to run away from danger.
▪ excellent, good, unerring▪Against her better instincts, she ran back into the burning house to save her paintings.
▪He had an unerring instinct for when people were lying to him.
▪ base▪ basic, natural, primitive▪ creative▪ aggressive, competitive▪ maternal, mothering, motherly, paternal, protective▪ fighting, hunting, killer, predatory▪He plays well but lacks that killer instinct. (figurative)
▪ self-preservation, survival▪ herd▪What makes all these people come to the club? In my view it's the herd instinct.
▪ sexual▪ business, commercial, political▪ animal, humanVERB + INSTINCT▪ have, possess▪ lack▪ develop, hone▪In negotiating you have to develop an instinct for when to be tough and when to make a deal.
▪ follow, go on, go with, obey, rely on, trust▪Why don't you just follow your natural instincts?
▪ control, fight, ignore, overcome, suppress▪ satisfy▪ appeal to▪They accused the campaign of appealing to the electorate's baser instincts.
▪ share▪Both superpowers shared the same instinct for self-preservation.
INSTINCT + VERB▪ tell sb sth▪Her instinct told her that she was being followed.
▪ drive sb, guide sb▪Artists have to learn to be guided by their instincts.
▪ kick in, take over▪Her instincts took over and she dived on the escaping thief.
▪ be right, be wrong▪I've trusted my instincts in the past and they've usually been right.
PREPOSITION▪ by instinct▪Babies know by instinct who their mother is.
▪ on instinct▪I acted purely on instinct.
▪ instinct for▪He has an instinct for survival in a tough job.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
