INSTINCT


Meaning of INSTINCT in English

noun

ADJECTIVE

▪ deep , powerful , strong

▪ gut

▪ pure , sheer

Out of pure ~, he moved back a little.

▪ first , initial

His first ~ was to run away from danger.

▪ excellent , good , unerring

Against her better ~s, she ran back into the burning house to save her paintings.

He had an unerring ~ 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 ~. ( figurative )

▪ self-preservation , survival

▪ herd

What makes all these people come to the club? In my view it's the herd ~.

▪ sexual

▪ business , commercial , political

▪ animal , human

VERB + INSTINCT

▪ have , possess

▪ lack

▪ develop , hone

In negotiating you have to develop an ~ 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 ~s?

▪ control , fight , ignore , overcome , suppress

▪ satisfy

▪ appeal to

They accused the campaign of appealing to the electorate's baser ~s.

▪ share

Both superpowers shared the same ~ for self-preservation.

INSTINCT + VERB

▪ tell sb sth

Her ~ told her that she was being followed.

▪ drive sb , guide sb

Artists have to learn to be guided by their ~s.

▪ kick in , take over

Her ~s took over and she dived on the escaping thief.

▪ be right , be wrong

I've trusted my ~s in the past and they've usually been right.

PREPOSITION

▪ by ~

Babies know by ~ who their mother is.

▪ on ~

I acted purely on ~.

▪ ~ for

He has an ~ for survival in a tough job.

Oxford Collocations English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь словосочетаний .