instructs

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of instruct.

   The manual instructs users to charge the device before first use.

   The judge instructs the jury before they begin their deliberations.

   Note

   The -s form that agrees with a single subject in the present: she instructs, the manual instructs, but they instruct. It always takes an object, usually the person being told, and often a to-infinitive naming the task, as in instructs users to charge the device. In legal use a client instructs a lawyer, which means formally engaging them to act on a matter.

2. 2
   nouncolloquialplural

   Directions explaining how to do or use something; an informal clipping of "instructions."

   The new hire ignored the instructs and assembled the shelf backward.

   She skimmed the instructs and ended up burning the recipe.

   Similardirections

   Note

   A clipped noun that lives only in the plural: you follow the instructs, never an instruct. Because it is spelled exactly like the verb form, a phrase can briefly read two ways. In "the manual instructs" it is a verb, and in "read the instructs" it is a noun, and the word in front of it tells you which. It belongs to casual speech. In careful writing, use instructions.

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