From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishinstigatein‧sti‧gate /ˈɪnstɪɡeɪt/ verb [transitive] 1 PGSTART something/MAKE something STARTto make a process start, especially one relating to law or politics Charles instigated a programme of reforms.2 CAUSEto persuade someone to do something bad or violent He accused union leaders of instigating the disturbances. —instigator noun [countable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
instigate• Vidovich instigated an investigation into the charges of police brutality.• Both sides accuse each other of instigating the fighting.Origin instigate (1500-1600) Latin past participle of instigare 