3 entries under this word
a. [Lat. instinctus, p. p. of instinguere, to instigate, incite.] Urged or stimulated from within; moved; animated; excited.
The chariot of paternal deity . . . Itself instinct with spirit, but convoyed By four cherubic shapes. Milton.
n. [Fr. instinct, Sp. & Pg. instinto, It. instinto, istinto, from Lat. instinctus, instigation. See supra.] Inward impulse; unconscious, involuntary, or unreasoning prompting to action; a disposition to any mode of action, whether bodily or spiritual, without a distinct apprehension of the end or object which nature has designed should be accomplished thereby; specifically, the natural, unreasoning impulse in an animal, by which it is guided to the performance of any action, without thought of improvement in the method.
By a divine instinct, men's minds mistrust Pursuing danger. Shak.
An instinct is a propensity prior to experience, and independent of instruction. Paley.
An instinct is a blind tendency to some mode of action, independent of any consideration, on the part of the agent, of the end to which the action leads. Whately.
An instinct is an agent which performs blindly and ignorantly a work of intelligence and knowledge. Sir W. Hamilton.
☞ By the poets sometimes accented on the last syllable.
v. t. To impress an animating power upon; to awaken instinct in; to cause to act by instinct. [Obs.] Bentley.