| 释义 |
▪ I. † prevail, n. Obs. rare.
[f. next.]
1. The fact of prevailing: = prevalence 1.
1420in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I. 9 Your gracious preuaile ayenst thentent & malice of your evilwillers. 1586J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 143/2 His preuaile was to their reproch.
2. Advantage, benefit: = avail n. 1.
c1475Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 285 Yt ys necessary to every clothyer, And the most prevayle to theym that may be fownde, Yf they wylle take hede therto and yt undyrstonde.
▪ II. prevail, v.|prɪˈveɪl|
Forms: 4–7 prevayle, 5 -vayl(l -vaylle, (Sc. -vele), 5–7 -vaile, 6 -vaill, 6–8 -vale, 5– prevail.
[ME. prevaylle, -vaile, ad. L. prævalēre to be very able, have greater power or worth, prevail (see pre- and vail v.) Cf. F. prévaloir (subj. † prévaille, now prévale), 15–16th c.]
†1. intr. To become very strong; to gain vigour or force, to increase in strength. Obs. rare.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. ix. (Tollem. MS.), By the benefyte of bloudde all the lymmes of the body prevayle and be fedde [orig. vigent et nutriuntur]. a1500Colkelbie Sow 654 (Bann. MS.) Into the first orising of it to tell, Or it prevelit planeist and popelus, Quhair now Pareiss citie is situat thus. a1540Barnes Wks. (1573) 332/2 We see that nowe hee is preuayled in mischief. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 681 Teach me..Why flowing Tides prevail upon the Main, And in what dark Recess they shrink again. 1755Young Centaur i. Wks. 1757 IV. 105 Prevails not Infidelity as much as Pleasure? And for-ever they must prevail, or decrease, together.
2. intr. To be superior in strength or influence; to have or gain the superiority or advantage; to get the better, gain the mastery or ascendancy; to be victorious. Const. against, over, † of, † upon.
c1450Cov. Myst. xxiv. (Shaks. Soc.) 237 Whan aȝens the..he may not prevaylle. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxii. (Percy Soc.) 161 In tyme of fight..If you prevayle you shall attayne the fame Of hye honour. 1529Supplic. to King (E.E.T.S.) 43 Hell gates shall not prevayle ageinste them. 1553Brende Q. Curtius iii. 36 Hys men prevayled of their enemies. 15942nd Rep. Dr. Faustus xxviii. K ij, So much the Christian preuailed vpon the Turke in three houres and a halfes fight. 1650T. Hubbert Pill Formality 46 Great is truth, and it shall prevaile. 1671Milton P.R. iii. 167 So did not Machabeus: he..o're a mighty King so oft prevail'd, That by strong hand his Family obtain'd, Though Priests, the Crown. 1692W. Marshall Gosp. Myst. Sanctif. (1764) 328 In Christ God's mercy prevails high above our sins. 1711Addison Spect. No. 61 ⁋5 As Pedantry and Ignorance shall prevail upon Wit and Sense. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 341 Some were for returning and others for staying longer, till the majority prevailed to come back. 1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 16 Cool self-love is prevailed over by passion and appetite. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 377 The intention of the devisor must prevail. 1895Law Times C. 5/2 The title of the assignee was..held to prevail over that of the trustee.
†b. trans. To prevail over, have superiority over, outstrip. Sc. Obs. rare.
1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 198 Displesit wes the nobillis of the Britis, That sic ane man of law birth and valour, Sould thame prevaill into so grit honour.
3. intr. To be effectual or efficacious; to be successful, to succeed.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 241 Whiche preuaylenge not, [she] was commaunded to kepenge. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxlvii. (1482) 314 So he retorned home ageyne with his meyny and preuayled nothynge. 1526Tindale John xii. 19 Ye se that we prevayle no thynge: loo all the worlde goth after hym. 1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer iii. (1577) O viij b, [He] proued many remedies, but all preuayled not. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. ix. 16 Songs..Prevail as much..As would a plump of trembling Fowl, that rise Against an Eagle. 1830Tennyson Supposed Confess. 99 But why Prevailed not thy pure prayers?
†b. to prevail to (a thing) or to do (something): to succeed in doing, attaining, etc. Obs. rare.
1473–5in Calr. Proc. Chanc. Q. Eliz. (1830) II. Pref. 57 Seeng that the said Richard..coude not prevaile to his said feyned title. 1561Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc iv. ii, Oh, cruell wight, shulde any cause prevaile To make the staine thy hands with brothers blod? 1644Bp. Hall Serm. 9 June Rem. Wks. (1660) 109 Let no Popish Doctor prevail to the abatement of this holy sorrow. 1764Goldsm. Hist. Eng. in Lett. (1772) II. 81 Neither he, nor his ministers, could prevail to alter the resolutions of his society.
c. to prevail on, prevail upon (formerly with): to succeed in persuading, inducing, or influencing.
1573–80Baret Alv. P 696 With whom when she could nothing preuaile. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 25, I so preuailed with him, as he let me haue it. 1656Stanley Hist. Philos. iv. (1701) 133/1 Enquiring what disputes they were where⁓ with Socrates prevailed so much upon the young Men. 1708Swift Death Partridge Wks. 1755 II. i. 158, I prevailed with myself to go and see him. 1711Budgell Spect. No. 67 ⁋6, I was prevailed upon by her and her Mother to go last Night to one of his Balls. 1805Emily Clark Banks of Douro II. 118 They could not prevail with her to stay. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 220 The Peshwa..endeavoured to prevail upon the Resident to grant a longer interval. 1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting ix. 396 As hard as ever I could prevail on my nag to go.
†d. trans. = prevail upon; to persuade, induce.
1475Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 3 The anguisshes, troubles, and divisions..may not prevaile them to the repairing and wynnyng of any soche manere outrageous losses to this Reaume. 1586Ld. Burghley in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 6 Morgan prevaled hir to renew hir intelligence with Babyngton. 1752Fielding Amelia i. vii, His partner, who was..afterwards prevailed to dance with him. 1834Tracts for Times No. 40. 2 Those who were most likely to be prevailed to act upon the principles of it.
†4. intr. To be of advantage or use; to profit: = avail v. 2. Obs.
c1500Melusine 209 Syth..þat my presence & long abydyng here with you may nought preuaylle to you. 1534Tindale N.T., Prol. Romans (1551) 66 b/1 What preuayleth it nowe that yu teachest another man not to steale, when yu thine own selfe art a thefe in thine hert? 1584Cogan Haven Health (1636) 16 Aristotle..saith that it prevaileth greatly both to the health of the body, and to the study of Philosophy.
†b. trans. To be of advantage or use to, to benefit: = avail v. 3. Obs.
1442Rolls of Parlt. V. 56/1 Menes how to prevaile the straungers. 1465Marg. Paston in P. Lett. II. 241 He seyd..yf it myght prevayle yow, he woulde with ryght good wylle that it choulde be doo. 1549Latimer 2nd Serm. bef. Edw. VI, To Rdr. (Arb.) 50 There thy money so gleaned and gathered of the and thyne..can not preuayle the. 1593Tell-Troth's N.Y. Gift (1876) 32 Vulcans Ielosy preuailed him nothing.
†c. To give (any one) the benefit or advantage of (something): = avail v. 7. Usually refl. to avail oneself of: = avail v. 5. [F. se prévaloir, a 1600.] Obs.
1617Moryson Itin. ii. 234, I am againe going..to waste the Countrie of Tyrone, and to preuaile the Garrisons there of some Corne to keepe their horses in the Winter. a1648Ld. Herbert Life (1888) 47 No man hath more dexterously prevailed himself thereof. 1681Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 461 Prevail yourself of what occasion gives.
5. intr. To be or become the stronger, more wide-spread, or more frequent usage or feature; to predominate. (A later weakening of sense 2.)
1628Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 3 These cities..began..to be called Hellenes: and yet could not that name of a long time after prevail upon them all. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iii. vi. §39 If any one will..to such..complex Ideas, give Names that shall prevail, they will then be new Species to them. 1712Addison Hymn ‘The spacious firmament’ ii, Soon as the Evening Shades prevail, The Moon takes up the wondrous Tale. 1718Free-thinker No. 35⁋6 The Gilded Signs prevailed over those of any other Colour. 1879G. C. Harlan Eyesight ii. 16 Light eyes prevail among northern nations and dark eyes among the races who live in the glare of a tropical sun.
b. Hence, To be in general use or practice; to be commonly accepted or adopted; to exist, obtain, occur, or be present constantly or widely; to be prevalent or current.
1776Gibbon Decl. & F. vii. (1869) I. 145 A silent consternation prevailed on the assembly. 1790Paley Horæ Paul. i. 2 Reports and traditions which prevailed in that age. 1840W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1866) III. 155 Now a snowstorm is prevailing. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 228 Their way of thinking is far better than any other which now prevails in the world. |