Library / English Dictionary

INSTRUCT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give instructions or directions for some task

Example:

She instructed the students to work on their pronunciation

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "instruct" is one way to...):

enjoin; order; say; tell (give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "instruct"):

charge (instruct or command with authority)

charge (instruct (a jury) about the law, its application, and the weighing of evidence)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sense 2

Meaning:

Impart skills or knowledge to

Example:

He instructed me in building a boat

Synonyms:

instruct; learn; teach

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "instruct" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Cause:

acquire; larn; learn (gain knowledge or skills)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "instruct"):

condition (establish a conditioned response)

edify; enlighten (make understand)

coach; train (teach and supervise (someone); act as a trainer or coach (to), as in sports)

lecture; talk (deliver a lecture or talk)

ground (instruct someone in the fundamentals of a subject)

unteach (cause to unlearn)

unteach (cause to disbelieve; teach someone the contrary of what he or she had learned earlier)

tutor (be a tutor to someone; give individual instruction)

mentor (serve as a teacher or trusted counselor)

induct (introduce or initiate)

spoonfeed (teach without challenging the students)

reinforce; reward (strengthen and support with rewards)

catechise; catechize (give religious instructions to)

drill (teach by repetition)

indoctrinate (teach doctrines to; teach uncritically)

develop; educate; prepare; train (create by training and teaching)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

instruction (the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill)

instructive (serving to instruct or enlighten or inform)

instructor (a person whose occupation is teaching)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make aware of

Example:

Have the students been apprised of the tuition hike?

Synonyms:

apprise; apprize; instruct

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "instruct" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "instruct"):

direct (give directions to; point somebody into a certain direction)

brief (give essential information to someone)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Credits

 Context examples: 

They were instructed to reduce their food intake by 500 to 1000 calories a day, and to gradually increase moderate-intensity physical activity to 250 minutes a week.

(Strategies successfully reduce weight gain in young adults, NIH)

I use the verb 'to torment,' as I observed to be your own method, instead of 'to instruct,' supposing them to be now admitted as synonymous.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Even the children were instructed, each to dip a wooden spoon into Mr. Micawber's pot, and pledge us in its contents.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

AJs may also function in the transmission of the contact inhibition' signal, which instructs cells to stop dividing once an epithelial sheet is complete.

(Beta Catenin, NCI Thesaurus/from OMIM)

The activities of educating or instructing or teaching; activities that impart knowledge or skill.

(Education, NCI Thesaurus)

A question about how convenient or inconvenient it is to take a medication as instructed.

(Convenience of Taking Medication as Instructed, NCI Thesaurus)

The responsibilities include instructing patients on the use, hazards, interactions, and side effects of any drug dispensed.

(Pharmacist, NCI Thesaurus)

This will allow a novel type of personalised and efficient healthcare, allowing us to 'download' a sequence of actions into cells, instructing them to execute complex decisions encoded in the RNA.

(Cells Programmed Like Computers to Fight Disease, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

As a consequence of the deficiency of this protein, their T-lymphocytes are unable to instruct B-lymphocytes to switch their production of gamma globulins from IgM to IgG and IgA.

(CD40 Ligand Deficiency, NCI Thesaurus)

Participants were instructed to focus on a stationary fixation point for five minutes.

(Daydreaming Is Good: It Means You're Smart, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)