at the instance of
1. 经……的提议
I did it at the instance of one of my colleagues.
我是经我一位同事的提议才做了这件事。
for instance
1. 例如
You can't depend on her: for instance, she arrived late yesterday.
她靠不住:举例说, 昨天她就来迟了。
in the first instance
1. 首先
In the first instance we had better make sure the calculations are correct.
首先我们最好保证计算是正确的。