Library / English Dictionary

PREVAIL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Use persuasion successfully

Example:

He prevailed upon her to visit his parents

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "prevail" is one way to...):

persuade (cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Prove superior

Example:

The champion prevailed, though it was a hard fight

Synonyms:

prevail; triumph

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "prevail" is one way to...):

win (be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be larger in number, quantity, power, status or importance

Example:

Hispanics predominate in this neighborhood

Synonyms:

dominate; predominate; prevail; reign; rule

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "prevail"):

override (prevail over)

overarch (be central or dominant)

outbalance; outweigh; overbalance; preponderate (weigh more heavily)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

prevalence (a superiority in numbers or amount)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Continue to exist

Example:

The legend of Elvis endures

Synonyms:

die hard; endure; persist; prevail; run

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "prevail" is one way to...):

continue (exist over a prolonged period of time)

Verb group:

run (occur persistently)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "prevail"):

carry over (transfer or persist from one stage or sphere of activity to another)

reverberate (have a long or continuing effect)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

prevalence (the quality of prevailing generally; being widespread)

prevalent (most frequent or common)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Be valid, applicable, or true

Example:

This theory still holds

Synonyms:

hold; obtain; prevail

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "prevail" is one way to...):

be; exist (have an existence, be extant)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

Yes, my father can seldom be prevailed on to give the waters what I think a fair trial.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I hoped that such considerations might prevail with them.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Indignation again prevailed over prudence: I replied sharply, Hitherto I have often omitted to fasten the bolt: I did not think it necessary.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Grave and reverend seniors seemed to have caught the prevailing spirit as badly as the students, and I saw white-bearded men rising and shaking their fists at the obdurate Professor.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She was just recovering from one of these attacks when she was prevailed upon to escort Miss Crocker to a lecture, and in return for her virtue was rewarded with a new idea.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Kiche licked White Fang soothingly with her tongue, and tried to prevail upon him to remain with her.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

This I would not be prevailed on to accept, abhorring to cover myself with any thing that had been on the back of a Yahoo.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The former is common when the helices belong to different polypeptides and the latter prevails in coiled coils made up from a single polypeptide chain.

(Coiled-Coil Domain, NCI Thesaurus)

Now exposed on the mountain's slopes, each layer reveals a different era of Martian history and holds clues about the prevailing environment at the time.

(NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds an Ancient Oasis on Mars, NASA)

According to the prevailing cells type, three major variants can be distinguished: fibrillary astrocytoma, gemistocytic astrocytoma, and protoplasmic astrocytoma.

(Diffuse Astrocytoma, NCI Thesaurus/Adapted from WHO)