prevailing

1. 1
   adjective

   Prevalent and widely found at a particular time or in a particular place.

   The prevailing view among economists was that interest rates would fall.

   Geometric patterns were the prevailing style in 1920s design.

   Similarcurrent, prevalent, dominant, widespread, common

   Note

   Where the 'strongest' meaning weighs force, this one counts how often something occurs: the most prevailing diseases, the most prevailing wind. James Annesley shows how close prevailing and prevalent are. His 1829 Sketches of the Most Prevalent Diseases of India speaks in its text of "the most prevailing diseases." After a noun it reads almost like a verb, as in "conditions prevailing at the present time."

2. 2
   adjective

   Predominant; having greater force or influence than other competing factors at the same time.

   Sailors plan their routes around the prevailing winds of each season.

   Despite some loud objections, the prevailing opinion carried the vote.

   Similarpredominant, dominant, prevalent, ruling, main

   Note

   An adjective built from prevail plus -ing, and it keeps the verb's participle close: what prevails is what wins out over rivals. Unlike many such adjectives, it takes degrees. Congreve's The Way of the World (1700) speaks of a mood "more prevailing than his curiosity," Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1777) calls merciful counsels "most prevailing," and House of Commons Papers (1826) describe an influence "more prevailing and powerful" than any other.

3. 3
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of prevail.

   Reason is finally prevailing in the negotiations.

   With the storm prevailing across the coast, ferries stopped running.

   Note

   The verb form behind both adjectives shares their spelling exactly. Prevail is intransitive in all its living senses, so prevailing takes no direct object: reason is prevailing, the storm was prevailing. Only the obsolete sense "to avail" ever took one. To tell it from the 'widespread' adjective, try swapping in "is winning" or "is gaining the upper hand." If the swap works, the verb is at work.

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