fer-instance

A form of for instance — As an example.

Meanings

nounfer-instance (plural fer-instances)

plural fer-instances

  1. alternativenonstandardAlternative form of for instance.

    To give you a fer-instance, it was whispered to me not five minutes before you come in here that the same thieves did over the wine warehouse as did the brewery.

    2003, Don Gutteridge, Solemn Vows (a Marc Edwards mystery), New York, N.Y.: Touchstone, Simon & Schuster, published 2011, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    “If it ain’t already coming at you, you bluff. Stand still, make loud noises. Try to look bigger, like maybe standing on a stump or opening a big umbrella.” / “Gee! I forgot my umbrella! Can I borrow yours?” / “Naw, I haven’t got one either. That was just a fer-instance. What they use to scare off polar bears is firecrackers and air horns.”

    2000, Andrew Dequasie, Vermont Mosaic: Whizzers and Other Short Fictional Tales of Vermont, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 31

    Take one scene, as a fer-instance: Goldman’s script very carefully sets up, via Westley’s explanation for Vizzini, the elusive qualities of iocane powder, the perfect poison—colorless, odorless, tasteless, impossible to detect, and, as we witness, almost instantly fatal.

    2006, MaryAnn Johanson, The Totally Geeky Guide to The Princess Bride, →ISBN, pages 40–41
Cite this entry
APA

fer-instance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fer-instance

MLA

“fer-instance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fer-instance. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fer-instance,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fer-instance.

Source: fer-instance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.