Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - instinct

(instincts) 1. Instinct is the natural tendency that a person or animal has to behave or react in a particular way. I didn’t have as strong a maternal instinct as some other mothers... He always knew what time it was, as if by instinct. N-VAR 2. If you have an instinct for something, you are naturally good at it or able to do it. Farmers are increasingly losing touch with their instinct for managing the land... = aptitude N-COUNT: oft N for n/-ing, N to-inf 3. If it is your instinct to do something, you feel that it is right to do it. I should’ve gone with my first instinct, which was not to do the interview... N-VAR: usu with poss, oft N to-inf 4. Instinct is a feeling that you have that something is the case, rather than an opinion or idea based on facts. He seems so honest and genuine and my every instinct says he’s not. = intuition N-VAR: oft N that