Prevail
[prɪ'veɪl] or [pri'vel]
Definition
(verb.) use persuasion successfully; 'He prevailed upon her to visit his parents'.
(verb.) prove superior; 'The champion prevailed, though it was a hard fight'.
(verb.) continue to exist; 'These stories die hard'; 'The legend of Elvis endures'.
(verb.) be valid, applicable, or true; 'This theory still holds'.
Inputed by Davis--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) To overcome; to gain the victory or superiority; to gain the advantage; to have the upper hand, or the mastery; to succeed; -- sometimes with over or against.
(v. i.) To be in force; to have effect, power, or influence; to be predominant; to have currency or prevalence; to obtain; as, the practice prevails this day.
(v. i.) To persuade or induce; -- with on, upon, or with; as, I prevailedon him to wait.
Inputed by Elliot
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. [1]. Predominate, preponderate, succeed, prosper, have the superiority, gain the advantage, be in the ascendant, get the upper hand, have one's own way, carry it, carry all before one, carry the day, win the day, gain the day, win the palm.[2]. Obtain, rage, have influence, have sway, have currency, be in vogue, be rife, be the rage.
Edited by Darrell
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Predominate, overcome, obtain, succeed, be_in_force, induce, persuade,[SeeCONQUER]
Inputed by Hubert
Definition
v.i. to be very powerful: to gain the victory: to have the upper hand: to have greater influence or effect: to overcome: to be in force: to succeed.—v.t. (obs.) avail.—adj. Prevail′ing having great power: controlling: bringing about results: very general or common.—adv. Prevail′ingly.—ns. Prevail′ment (Shak.) prevalence; Prev′alence Prev′alency the state of being prevalent or wide-spread: superior strength or influence: preponderance: efficacy.—adj. Prev′alent prevailing: having great power: victorious: wide-spread: most common.—adv. Prev′alently.
Typed by Essie
Examples
- Nay, he replied, 'suppose' is not the word--I know it; but you will be found out, and by sheer force of argument you will never prevail. Plato. The Republic.
- I really cannot prevail upon myself to carry this shocking disclosure any farther. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Will you return with me and try to prevail with him? Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- It was naturally to be expected, therefore, that folly, negligence, and profusion, should prevail in the whole management of their affairs. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- He is a curious, interesting, and nearly perished link between obsolete forms of life and those which generally prevail. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- When Galton questioned persons whom he met in general society he found an entirely different disposition to prevail. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- A common interest, it was anticipated, would produce a more than common union of all the powers; yet great is truth, and it will prevail! Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Still, the same quiet life went on at the little cottage, and the same cheerful serenity prevailed among its inmates. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- By dint of alternate threats, promises, and bribes, the lady in question was ultimately prevailed upon to undertake the commission. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Some fanatics among them, to be sure, held that one book, the Koran, was of itself sufficient to insure the well-being of the whole human race, but happily a more enlightened view prevailed. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- She ultimately prevailed; and all-conquering Fife was expected with rapture. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Here Johnston made a stand until the 17th, when Sherman's old tactics prevailed again and the final movement toward Atlanta began. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- For a time one of these peoples, the Khitan, prevailed. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Evans' System Prevailed for Three Quarters of a Century. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The spirit of party prevails less in Scotland than in England. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The usual corporation spirit, wherever the law does not restrain it, prevails in all regulated companies. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- A certain festive cheerfulness prevails. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The interest in both is of the very same kind: It is general, avowed, and prevails in all times and places. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- But nothing so simply true as that prevails in politics. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Such is the state of affairs which prevails among them. Plato. The Republic.
- One code prevails in the family; another, on the street; a third, in the workshop or store; a fourth, in the religious association. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Under such high patronage most of the ideas and principles of ordnance now prevailing were discovered or suggested, but were embodied for the most part in rude and inefficient contrivances. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- One now prevailing. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- I grant that in the rigid political conditions prevailing to-day a new issue is an embarrassment, perhaps a hindrance to the procedure of political life. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Envy and impotent desires are their prevailing passions. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- Vice in our cities is a form of the sexual impulse--one of the forms it has taken under prevailing social conditions. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- But his prevailing occupation was splendour. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- This exhibited merely the prevailing price of gold; but as its quotations changed from instant to instant, it was in a most literal sense the cynosure of neighboring eyes. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
Checker: Sherman