Adjacent Words

succeed definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: attain success or reach a desired goal; "The enterprise succeeded"; "We succeeded in getting tickets to the show"; "she struggled to overcome her handicap and won" [syn: succeed, win, come through, bring home the bacon, deliver the goods] [ant: fail, go wrong, miscarry]
2: be the successor (of); "Carter followed Ford"; "Will Charles succeed to the throne?" [syn: succeed, come after, follow] [ant: come before, precede]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English succeden, from Anglo-French succeeder, from Latin succedere to go up, follow after, succeed, from sub- near + cedere to go — more at sub- Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. a. to come next after another in office or position or in possession of an estate; especially to inherit sovereignty, rank, or title b. to follow after another in order 2. a. to turn out well b. to attain a desired object or end <students who succeed in college> 3. obsolete to pass to a person by inheritance transitive verb 1. to follow in sequence and especially immediately 2. to come after as heir or successor Synonyms: see follow • succeeder noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 intr. a (often foll. by in) accomplish one's purpose; have success; prosper (succeeded in his ambition). b (of a plan etc.) be successful. 2 a tr. follow in order; come next after (night succeeded day). b intr. (foll. by to) come next, be subsequent. 3 intr. (often foll. by to) come by an inheritance, office, title, or property (succeeded to the throne). 4 tr. take over an office, property, inheritance, etc. from (succeeded his father; succeeded the manager). Phrases and idioms: nothing succeeds like success one success leads to others. Derivatives: succeeder n. Etymology: ME f. OF succeder or L succedere (as SUB-, cedere cess- go)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Succeed Suc*ceed", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Succeeded; p. pr. & vb. n. Succeeding.] [L. succedere, successum; sub under + cedere to go, to go along, approach, follow, succeed: cf. F. succ['e]der. See Cede, and cf. Success.] 1. To follow in order; to come next after; hence, to take the place of; as, the king's eldest son succeeds his father on the throne; autumn succeeds summer. As he saw him nigh succeed. --Spenser. 2. To fall heir to; to inherit. [Obs. & R.] --Shak. 3. To come after; to be subsequent or consequent to; to follow; to pursue. Destructive effects . . . succeeded the curse. --Sir T. Browne. 4. To support; to prosper; to promote. [R.] Succeed my wish and second my design. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Succeed Suc*ceed", v. i. 1. To come in the place of another person, thing, or event; to come next in the usual, natural, or prescribed course of things; to follow; hence, to come next in the possession of anything; -- often with to. If the father left only daughters, they equally succeeded to him in copartnership. --Sir M. Hale. Enjoy till I return Short pleasures; for long woes are to succeed! --Milton. 2. Specifically: To ascend the throne after the removal the death of the occupant. No woman shall succeed in Salique land. --Shak. 3. To descend, as an estate or an heirloom, in the same family; to devolve. --Shak. 4. To obtain the object desired; to accomplish what is attempted or intended; to have a prosperous issue or termination; to be successful; as, he succeeded in his plans; his plans succeeded. It is almost impossible for poets to succeed without ambition. --Dryden. Spenser endeavored it in Shepherd's Kalendar; but neither will it succeed in English. --Dryden. 5. To go under cover. [A latinism. Obs.] Will you to the cooler cave succeed! --Dryden. Syn: To follow; pursue. See Follow.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(succeeds, succeeding, succeeded) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you succeed in doing something, you manage to do it. We have already succeeded in working out ground rules with the Department of Defense... Some people will succeed in their efforts to stop smoking... ? fail VERB: V in -ing/n, V in -ing/n 2. If something succeeds, it works in a satisfactory way or has the result that is intended. ...a move which would make any future talks even more unlikely to succeed. ? fail VERB: V 3. Someone who succeeds gains a high position in what they do, for example in business or politics. ...the skills and qualities needed to succeed in small and medium-sized businesses. ? fail VERB: V 4. If you succeed another person, you are the next person to have their job or position. David Rowland is almost certain to succeed him as chairman on January 1... The present ruler, Prince Rainier III, succeeded to the throne on 9 May 1949. VERB: V n, V to n 5. If one thing is succeeded by another thing, the other thing happens or comes after it. A quick divorce can be succeeded by a much longer–and more agonising–period of haggling over the fate of the family. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Follow, come after, be subsequent to. 2. Take the place of, assume the office of, follow in order. II. v. n. 1. Follow, ensue, come afterward, come subsequently. 2. Prosper, flourish, prevail, thrive, hit, make a hit, come on, be successful, meet with success, go on well, go on swimmingly, have a run of luck, hit the right nail on the head, turn up trumps, have the game in one's hands.

Moby Thesaurus

accomplish, achieve, act for, advance, arrive, attain, attend, be a gas, be a hit, be a success, be blooded, be successful, be victorious, bill, bomb, boom, break the record, bring off, bring through, c, carry off, catch on, change hands, change ownership, change places with, clear, clear the hurdle, click, come after, come along, come by, come in for, come into, come off, come on, compass, connect, conquer, consummate, contrive, crowd out, crown with success, cut out, cut the mustard, deal with, descend, devolve, discharge, dispatch, displace, dispose of, do, do the job, do the trick, do well, double for, dow, dramatize, effect, effectuate, emanate, enact, engineer, enjoy prosperity, ensue, execute, fail, farewell, feature, fetch, fill in for, flop, flourish, follow, follow after, follow up, fulfill, gain, get ahead, get along, get by, get on, get on swimmingly, get on well, ghost, ghostwrite, go, go after, go great guns, go off, go on, go over, go over big, go to town, go well, graduate, hack it, headline, heir, hit the mark, inherit, issue, knock off, make, make a hit, make good, make headway, make it, make out, make progress, make the grade, manage, manage somehow, meet with success, melodramatize, mount, muddle through, negotiate, open, open a show, overtake, pan out, pass, pass on, perform, pinch-hit, polish off, premiere, present, prevail, preview, produce, progress, prosper, prove out, pull off, put across, put away, put on, put over, put through, qualify, reach, realize, relieve, replace, represent, result, scenarize, score, scrape along, set the stage, spell, spell off, stage, stand in for, star, subrogate, substitute for, succeed in, succeed to, supersede, supervene, supplant, swap places with, swing, swing the deal, take, take care of, theatricalize, thrive, track, trail, triumph, try out, turn out well, turn the trick, understudy for, win, win out, work, work out, work well, work wonders, worry along