1549 H. Latimer Seconde Serm. sig. Av What dyd we speke of preuaylynge, or redeming of thy cause with mony?

1604 E. Hake Of Golds Kingdome 20 The Iudge that hath Gods Seate, Protects the Right while Lawyers heads Vpon preuailings beate.

1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar iii. 83 The earnestnesse of the contention was diminished by the demonstrations of the spirit, and the prevailings of grace.

1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 195. ⁋2 To hinder the creeping in and prevailing of Quacks and Pretenders.

1757 J. Woolman Jrnl. May (1971) iv. 64 It appeared to me that through the prevailing of the spirit of this world the minds of many were brought to an inward desolation.

1800 T. Haweis Impartial Hist. Church of Christ II. vii. 448 Amidst all the prevailings of iniquity..the writings of some of those..mystical divines, shew, that they cultivated still the religion of the heart.

1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 4 The prevailing of the gates of hell.

1936 W. F. McCaleb Aaron Burr Conspiracy ix. 287 The prevailing of the motion meant the end of the trial for treason.

2002 Jrnl. Contemp. Asia 32 83 These findings hardly suggest the prevailing of gender discrimination in the workplace even though it occurs at its gate.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David (1823) xliii. 76 Why walk I in woes, While prevayling foes Haue of joye bereft me?

1648 Hunting of Fox 36 A prevailing Faction..hath divested him of all his Rights.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 973 Farr heavier load thy self expect to feel From my prevailing arme. View more context for this quotation

1706 R. Estcourt Fair Example ii. i. 20 Effects of Age, not to be remov'd by Physick, tho' never so prevailing.

1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xv. 461 The spiritual authority of the prevailing party was exercised with increasing severity.

1848 R. I. Wilberforce Doctr. Incarnation (1852) ix. 206 Pleading the merits of His death as the prevailing Intercessor for His brethren.

1874 Internat. Rev. Jan. 6 Merchants and bankers are necessarily the prevailing classes.

1905 S. E. L. D. Baldwin Amer. Judiciary 218 If there are suitable lawyers..one of them who belongs to the prevailing party is generally made the judge.

1992 New Republic 27 July 42/1 In a three-way race where the prevailing candidate gets only a plurality,..there is no easy way to say what the people's preference is.

1682 S. Johnson Julian Apostate 37 The more general and prevailing Report, is, That he was kill'd by one of his own Souldiers.

1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks ii. ii. 123 Led by false Religion or prevailing Custom.

1770 P. Luckombe Conc. Hist. Printing 227 Roman is at present the most prevailing Letter used in printing.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. ii. 230 The prevailing discontent was compounded of many feelings.

1892 Literary World 20 May 485 The phrenologist and the palmist take infinite pains to dispel the prevailing ignorance.

1939 O. Lancaster Homes Sweet Homes 56 The prevailing optimism received a shock.

1996 Chicago Tribune 24 Nov. vii. 16/2 Back home, the English band's brand of guitar rock..[is] considered hopelessly out of touch with the prevailing rave culture.

1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads xiv. 205 As when a Wave is raised high By secret Gales..Until some certain and prevailing Wind Comandeth in the Air.

1707 Oration Sacred to Imperial Majesty Anne 47 Like a tall and solemn Oak complying superficiously with the prevailing Winds, and with her Branches humouring the present Blasts.

1748 O. Little Trade in Northern Colonies Considered 78 Several Degrees of cold, moderate, and warm Weather in all places vary with, and depend upon the prevailing Winds.

1815 M. Elphinstone Acct. Kingdom Caubul i. v. 129 The prevailing wind..in the region south-west of Hemalleh, is from the south-east.

1860 Amer. Agriculturist Dec. 355/1 Let it be sheltered from prevailing winds, and where the sun will strike the hives each day a short time.

1914 E. R. Burroughs Tarzan of Apes xviii. 238 From..the prevailing winds for the past week he could have been on no other island than one of the Cape Verde group.

1992 Harper's Mag. Apr. 28/2 Landscape..is shaped by the way continental masses bend ocean currents, by the way the prevailing winds blow from the west, [etc.].

1757 J. H. Grose Voy. E.-Indies 381 Much has been said of the prevailingness of the art of poisoning in the East-Indies.

1880 G. Meredith Tragic Comedians I. viii. 171 His pride in his prevailingness thrilled her.

1904 G. Thibaut tr. Rāmānuja in Bādarāyana Vedânta-sûtras III. 93 What ‘maya’ actually denotes here is abundance, prevailingness.