Collocations for instinct - noun

deep, powerful, strong
gut
pure, sheer
Out of pure instinct, he moved back a little.

first, initial
His first instinct was to run away from danger.

excellent, good, unerring
Against her better instincts, she ran back into the burning house to save her paintings.
He had an unerring instinct for when people were lying to him.

base
basic, natural, primitive
creative
aggressive, competitive
maternal, mothering, motherly, paternal, protective
fighting, hunting, killer, predatory
He plays well but lacks that killer instinct. (figurative)

self-preservation, survival
herd
What makes all these people come to the club? In my view it's the herd instinct.

sexual
business, commercial, political
animal, human

have, possess
lack
develop, hone
In negotiating you have to develop an instinct for when to be tough and when to make a deal.

follow, go on, go with, obey, rely on, trust
Why don't you just follow your natural instincts?

control, fight, ignore, overcome, suppress
satisfy
appeal to
They accused the campaign of appealing to the electorate's baser instincts.

share
Both superpowers shared the same instinct for self-preservation.

tell sb sth
Her instinct told her that she was being followed.

drive sb, guide sb
Artists have to learn to be guided by their instincts.

kick in, take over
Her instincts took over and she dived on the escaping thief.

be right, be wrong
I've trusted my instincts in the past and they've usually been right.

by instinct
Babies know by instinct who their mother is.

on instinct
I acted purely on instinct.

instinct for
He has an instinct for survival in a tough job.