Adjacent Words

Prevailing definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PREVA'ILING, ppr. Gaining advantage, superiority or victory; having effect; persuading; succeeding.
1. a. Predominant; having more influence; prevalent; superior in power. The love of money and the love of power are the prevailing passions of men.
2. Efficacious.
Saints shall assist thee with prevailing prayers.
3. Predominant; most general; as the prevailing disease of a climate; a prevailing opinion. Intemperance is the prevailing vice of many countries.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: most frequent or common; "prevailing winds" [syn: prevailing, prevalent, predominant, dominant, rife]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prevail Pre*vail", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prevailed; p. pr. & vb. n. Prevailing.] [F. pr['e]valoir, OF. prevaleir, L. praevalere; prae before + valere to be strong, able, or worth. See Valiant.] 1. 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. When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. --Ex. xvii. 11. So David prevailed over the Philistine. --1 Sam. xvii. 50. This kingdom could never prevail against the united power of England. --Swift. 2. 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. This custom makes the short-sighted bigots, and the warier skeptics, as far as it prevails. --Locke. 3. To persuade or induce; -- with on, upon, or with; as, I prevailedon him to wait. He was prevailed with to restrain the Earl. --Clarendon. Prevail upon some judicious friend to be your constant hearer, and allow him the utmost freedom. --Swift.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prevailing Pre*vail"ing, a. 1. Having superior force or influence; efficacious; persuasive. --Shak. Saints shall assist thee with prevailing prayers. --Rowe. 2. Predominant; prevalent; most general; as, the prevailing disease of a climate; a prevailing opinion. Syn: Syn. See Prevalent.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

The prevailing wind in an area is the type of wind that blows over that area most of the time. The direction of the prevailing winds should be taken into account. ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Effectual, dominant, predominant, efficacious, preponderating, persuading, controlling, ruling, overruling, influential, operative, successful. 2. Prevalent, most common, most general.

Moby Thesaurus

abounding, abundant, accidental, accompanying, accustomed, ado, affecting, affluent, afloat, afoot, all-sufficing, ample, aplenty, arch, ascendant, average, banner, besetting, bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, capital, cardinal, central, champion, chief, circumstantial, common, commonplace, conquering, conventional, copious, crowning, current, customary, defeating, diffuse, doing, dominant, dominating, effective, effectual, effuse, epidemic, eventuating, everyday, exhaustless, extravagant, exuberant, familiar, fat, fertile, first, flush, flushed with success, focal, forceful, foremost, full, galore, general, generous, going on, great, habitual, happening, headmost, hegemonic, household, in ascendancy, in hand, in plenty, in quantity, in the ascendant, in the wind, incidental, inexhaustible, influential, lavish, leading, liberal, luxuriant, magisterial, main, many, master, maximal, much, normal, normative, numerous, occasional, occurring, on, on foot, on the throne, ongoing, opulent, ordinary, overcoming, overflowing, overruling, pandemic, paramount, passing, plenitudinous, plenteous, plentiful, plenty, popular, potent, powerful, predominant, predominating, preeminent, prepollent, preponderant, prepotent, prescriptive, prevalent, primal, primary, prime, principal, prodigal, productive, profuse, profusive, rampant, ranking, regnant, regular, regulation, reigning, replete, resultant, rich, rife, riotous, routine, ruling, running, running over, sovereign, standard, star, stellar, stereotyped, stock, successful, superabundant, supereminent, swaying, taking place, teeming, telling, topflight, triumphal, triumphant, under way, universal, usual, vanquishing, vernacular, victorious, wealthy, well-found, well-furnished, well-provided, well-stocked, wholesale, widespread, winning, wonted