Instigate
['ɪnstɪgeɪt] or ['ɪnstə'get]
Definition
(v. t.) To goad or urge forward; to set on; to provoke; to incite; -- used chiefly with reference to evil actions; as to instigate one to a crime.
Typist: Nelly
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Incite, impel, move, urge, provoke, stimulate, rouse, actuate, persuade, influence, encourage, prompt, set on, prevail upon, stir up, spur on.
Inputed by Erma
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See URGE]
Typist: Sanford
Definition
v.t. to urge on: to set on: to foment.—ns. Instigā′tion the act of inciting: impulse esp. to evil; In′stigator an inciter generally in a bad sense.
Typist: Tim
Examples
- If I appear, then thou diest, even although thy charms should instigate some hot-headed youth to enter the lists in thy defence. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Besides, I was instigated by delicacy towards the unhappy writer of these few lines. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Yet why the sight of him should have instigated that sudden rush of blood she could not tell. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- In practice, however, the latter method is effectual only when instigated by fear of unpleasant results. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- He was close enough to see this, and the sight instigated his tongue. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- She knew that Raymond had conversed with her; had he instigated this request? Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- After a slight repose, during which the spirits of the dead hovered round, and instigated me to toil and revenge, I prepared for my journey. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- By whom can he have been instigated? Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- But now my boasted independence was daily instigating me to acts of tyranny, and freedom was becoming licentiousness. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
Typed by Gordon