instinct
/ˈɪn.stɪŋkt/ noun B2- A natural or inherent impulse or behaviour. · Many animals fear fire by instinct.
- An intuitive reaction not based on rational conscious thought. · an instinct for order; to be modest by instinct· Debbie's instinct was to distrust John.
Plural instincts
From the library
“Or, rather, by instinct.”
“Yes, for you who detest those unhappy princes, Beauchamp, and are always delighted to find fault with them; but not for me, who discover a gentleman by instinct, and who scent out an aristocratic family like a very bloodhound of heraldry.”
The ship drew on and had safely passed the strait, which some volcanic shock has made between the Calasareigne and Jaros islands; had doubled Pomègue, and approached the harbor under topsails, jib, and spanker, but so slowly and sedately that the idlers, with that instinct which is the forerunner of evil, asked one another what misfortune could have happened on board.
With the rapid instinct of selfishness, Caderousse readily perceived the solidity of this mode of reasoning; he gazed, doubtfully, wistfully, on Danglars, and then caution supplanted generosity.
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