1 ~ (of sth) something such as an object, a fact or a situation that shows, explains or supports what you say:
Can you give me an example of what you mean? * It is important to cite examples to support your argument. * I shall take four different examples from contemporary literature to illustrate my point. * This dictionary has many examples of how words are used. * Just to give you an example of his generosity-he gave me his old car and wouldn't take any money for it.
2 ~ (of sth) a thing that is typical of or represents a particular group or set:
This is a good example of the artist's early work. * It is a perfect example of a medieval castle. * Japan is often quoted as the prime example of a modern industrial nation. * It is a classic example of how not to design a new city centre.
3 ~ (to sb) a person or their behaviour that is thought to be a good model for others to copy:
Her courage is an example to us all. * He sets an example to the other students. * She is a shining example of what people with disabilities can achieve. * He is a captain who leads by example.
4 a person's behaviour, either good or bad, that other people copy:
It would be a mistake to follow his example.
IDIOMS
for example (abbreviation e.g.) used to emphasize sth that explains or supports what you are saying; used to give an example of what you are saying:
There is a similar word in many languages, for example in French and Italian. * The report is incomplete; it does not include sales in France, for example. * It is possible to combine Computer Science with other subjects, for example Physics.
make an example of sb to punish sb as a warning to others not to do the same thing
Rate this entry
About this entry
This is a English–English dictionary entry.
Sourced from Main Dictionary in Lughet's collection.
This word also appears under other sources in Lughet's collection — see the list below.
This entry for example is sourced from Main Dictionary, one of the dictionaries and corpora merged into Lughet.
Is example a noun, verb, or something else?
In this entry, example is tagged as noun.
Does example appear elsewhere on Lughet?
Yes — example appears under other sources or language pairs in Lughet's collection. See the list below.
What is Lughet?
Lughet is a free trilingual dictionary covering nearly five million entries across Uyghur, Chinese, and English, drawn from more than ten source dictionaries and corpora.
