INSTRUCT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does instruct mean? 

• INSTRUCT (verb)
  The verb INSTRUCT has 3 senses:

1. impart skills or knowledge to

2. give instructions or directions for some task

3. make aware of

  Familiarity information: INSTRUCT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSTRUCT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they instruct    ... he / she / it instructs   
Past simple: instructed   
Past participle: instructed   
-ing form: instructing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Impart skills or knowledge to

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

instruct; learn; teach

Context example:

He instructed me in building a boat

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"):

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

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)

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 2

Meaning:

Give instructions or directions for some task

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

She instructed the students to work on their pronunciation

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

charge (instruct or command with authority)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make aware of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

apprise; apprize; instruct

Context example:

Have the students been apprised of the tuition hike?

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

 Context examples 

And our urge to yawn is increased if we are instructed to resist yawning.

(Why Is Yawning so Contagious?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Again instructing Maud to slack away at the windlass when I gave the word, I proceeded to heave on the watch-tackle.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

In my first voyages, while I was young, I was instructed by the oldest mariners, and learned to speak as they did.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

People in the control groups were instructed to “close your eyes and relax until the end of the experiment.”

(Scientists discover non-opioid pain pathway in the brain, NIH)

The activities of educating or instructing or teaching that are directed towards a patient or the general public.

(Patient or Public Education, NCI Thesaurus)

Mr. Collins was carefully instructing them in what they were to expect, that the sight of such rooms, so many servants, and so splendid a dinner, might not wholly overpower them.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

All participants were instructed to turn their phones to silent.

(Presence of Smartphone Reduces Brain Power, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The book from which Felix instructed Safie was Volney’s Ruins of Empires.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Oh, you are, are you? And who instructed you, eh?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They had been instructed theoretically in their religion, but never required to bring it into daily practice.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)