What does prevail mean?
Definitions for prevail
prɪˈveɪlpre·vail
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word prevail.
Princeton's WordNet
predominate, dominate, rule, reign, prevailverb
be larger in number, quantity, power, status or importance
"Money reigns supreme here"; "Hispanics predominate in this neighborhood"
prevail, hold, obtainverb
be valid, applicable, or true
"This theory still holds"
prevail, persist, die hard, run, endureverb
continue to exist
"These stories die hard"; "The legend of Elvis endures"
prevail, triumphverb
prove superior
"The champion prevailed, though it was a hard fight"
prevailverb
use persuasion successfully
"He prevailed upon her to visit his parents"
Wiktionary
prevailverb
To be superior in strength, dominance, influence or frequency; to have or gain the advantage over others; to have the upper hand; to outnumber others.
Red colour prevails in the Canadian flag.
prevailverb
To be current, widespread or predominant; to have currency or prevalence.
In his day and age, such practices prevailed all over Europe.
prevailverb
To succeed in persuading or inducing.
I prevailed on him to wait.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
To PREVAILverb
Etymology: prevaloir, Fr. prævalere, Lat.
This custom makes the short-sighted bigots, and the warrier scepticks, as far as it prevails. John Locke.
They that were your enemies, are his,
And have prevail’d as much on him as you. William Shakespeare.Nor is it hard for thee to preserve me amidst the unjust hatred and jealousness of too many, which thou hast suffered to prevail upon me. Charles I .
I told you then he should prevail, and speed
On his bad errand. John Milton.The millenium prevailed long against the truth upon the strength of authority. Decay of Piety.
While Malbro’s cannon thus prevails by land,
Britain’s sea-chiefs by Anna’s high command,
Resistless o’er the Thuscan billows ride. Richard Blackmore.Thus song could prevail
O’er death and o’er hell,
A conquest how hard and how glorious;
Though fate had fast bound her
With Styx nine times round her,
Yet musick and love were victorious. Alexander Pope.This kingdom could never prevail against the united power of England. Jonathan Swift.
With minds obdurate nothing prevaileth, as well they that preach, as they that read unto such, shall still have cause to complain with the prophets of old, who will give credit unto our teaching? Richard Hooker, b. v. s. 22.
He was prevailed with to restrain the earl of Bristol upon his first arrival. Edward Hyde.
The serpent with me
Persuasively have so prevail’d, that I
Have also tasted. John Milton.They are more in danger to go out of the way, who are marching under the conduct of a guide, that it is an hundred to one will mislead them, than he that has not yet taken a step, and is likelier to be prevailed on to enquire after the right way. John Locke.
There are four sorts of arguments that men, in their reasonings with others, make use of to prevail on them. John Locke.
The gods pray
He would resume the conduct of the day,
Nor let the world be lost in endless night;
Prevail’d upon at last, again he took
The harness’d steeds, that still with horror shook. Addis.Upon assurances of revolt, the queen was prevailed with to send her forces upon that expedition. Jonathan Swift.
Prevail upon some judicious friend to be your constant hearer, and allow him the utmost freedom. Jonathan Swift.
ChatGPT
prevail
To prevail means to succeed or be victorious in a particular situation or conflict. It implies overcoming obstacles, opposition, or challenges in order to achieve a desired outcome or to establish one's dominance or authority.
Webster Dictionary
Prevailverb
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
Prevailverb
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
Prevailverb
to persuade or induce; -- with on, upon, or with; as, I prevailedon him to wait
Etymology: [F. prvaloir, OF. prevaleir, L. praevalere; prae before + valere to be strong, able, or worth. See Valiant.]
Wikidata
Prevail
Kiley Hendricks, better known by stage name Prevail, is a 4-time Juno Award winning Canadian hip hop artist raised in Victoria, British Columbia and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Prevail is part of platinum-selling Swollen Members, which consists principally of himself and Mad Child. They have been called "two of the most innovative people in hip-hop". Aside from his extensive catalog with Swollen Members, Prevail released a side project entitled Code Name Scorpion with Abstract Rude and Moka Only in 2001, his first solo EP Baseball Bat and Nails in 2009, and a second solo EP with Ol' City Rocker titled Spasefase in 2012.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Prevail
prē-vāl′, 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. [Fr. prévaloir—L. prævalēre—præ, before, valēre, to be powerful.]
Suggested Resources
prevail
Song lyrics by prevail -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by prevail on the Lyrics.com website.
British National Corpus
Verbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'prevail' in Verbs Frequency: #998
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of prevail in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of prevail in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2
Examples of prevail in a Sentence
For America’s sake and for women’s sake, we have to prevail in this.
It's like Josef K in Kafka, the difference is that Josef K lost. In the end I will prevail. They took on the wrong innocent person.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Meanwhile, Maya's family members, friends, and community members have continued searching for her on a weekly basis. They are planning a search this Saturday in a mountainous region roughly 30 miles east of Chula Vista. We just have to have faith that the truth will prevail, it's just a matter of time.
If he could prove he was fired at least in part for filing a charge, he could prevail, if he made a complaint and he could prove he was fired for that charge – he has to prove Google was aware that he was filing this charge.
What really kind of wins the day is morals and belief in our system of government and in our system of laws. And although I'm in this unfortunate situation, I still have faith in America and in the American people, all I can do is have faith that in the end, logic and common sense, and people who care about what is going on will prevail.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for prevail
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- تسودArabic
- převládatCzech
- vorherrschenGerman
- prevalecerSpanish
- غالب شدن پیروز شدن چیره شدنPersian
- suostutella, taivutellaFinnish
- prédominer, prévaloir, dominer, l'emporter, persuaderFrench
- prevalereItalian
- לִגבּוֹרHebrew
- 勝つJapanese
- prævalebuntLatin
- overwinnen, overheersen, overtuigen, domineren, zegevierenDutch
- dah honiłnéNavajo, Navaho
- predominar, prevalecerPortuguese
- преобладать, одержать победу, уговорить, убедить, господствовать, превалировать, доминировать, восторжествоватьRussian
- förhärskaSwedish
- மேம்படுTamil
- เหนือกว่าThai
- 占上风Chinese
Get even more translations for prevail »
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