Meaning & use
prevail
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To win or succeed after a struggle against opposing people, forces, or conditions.
Grammar: No object; usually followed by over, against, or in: prevail over an opponent, prevail in court.
Patterns
- prevail over something
- prevail against something
- prevail in something
Common sense prevailed, and the group chose the cheaper option.
She prevailed in court and kept custody of the documents.
verbintransitiveformal
To exist or be widespread as the usual or dominant condition at a particular time or place.
Grammar: No object; the subject is the common condition itself: calm weather prevailed.
Patterns
- conditions prevail
- a belief that prevails
- silence prevailed
Calm weather prevailed for most of the week.
A belief that hard work guarantees success still prevails in many families.
verbtransitiveformal
To persuade someone, usually after some effort, to do something.
Grammar: Used in the pattern prevail on or upon someone to do something, not with a direct object alone.
Patterns
- prevail on someone to do something
- prevail upon someone to do something
We prevailed on our neighbor to water the plants during our trip.
The committee prevailed upon her to stay for a second term.
Word forms
| third person singular | prevails |
|---|---|
| past tense | prevailed |
| past participle | prevailed |
| -ing form | prevailing |
Common combinations
- prevail over something
- Good sense prevailed over panic during the evacuation.
- prevail against the odds
- She prevailed against the odds and finished her degree while working full time.
- justice prevails
- In the final chapter of the novel, justice finally prevails.
- prevail on someone to do something
- I prevailed on my brother to drive me to the airport.
Synonyms and how they differ
- win
- Win is the everyday word for victory; prevail is more formal and suggests success after difficulty.
- triumph
- Triumph suggests a complete, celebrated victory; prevail is quieter and more general.
- predominate
- Predominate means being the most common or powerful type, matching prevail in its widespread sense only.
Opposites
Word family
- prevailing adjective
- most common or dominant at a particular time
- prevalence noun
- the fact of being widespread or common
- prevalent adjective
- existing very commonly over a place or period
Commonly confused: prevail or prevalent?
prevail vs prevalent
Prevail is a verb meaning to win or be widespread; prevalent is an adjective meaning common or widespread.
Practice
The underdog team ___ ___ strong opposition to reach the final.
Choose one answer.
Prevail over or prevail against is used for defeating opposing forces: the team prevailed over strong opposition. Prevailed in takes a contest or place (prevail in the final), and prevail by and prevail into are not standard patterns.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prevail”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.