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Prevail vs Previous - What's the difference?

prevail | previous |

As a verb prevail

is to be superior in strength, dominance, influence or frequency; to have or gain the advantage over others; to have the upper hand; to outnumber others.

As an adjective previous is

prior; occurring before something else, either in time or order.

As a noun previous is

(informal|uk) an existing criminal record; short for "previous convictions".

prevail

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To be superior in strength, dominance, influence or frequency; to have or gain the advantage over others; to have the upper hand; to outnumber others.
    • Red colour prevails in the Canadian flag.
  • * , Exodus 17:11
    • And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed'; and when he let down his hand, Amalek ' prevailed .
  • To be current, widespread or predominant; to have currency or prevalence.
    • In his day and age, such practices prevailed all over Europe.
  • To succeed in persuading]] or [[induce, inducing.
    • I prevailed on him to wait.

    Derived terms

    * cooler heads will prevail

    Related terms

    * prevalence * prevalent

    References

    * *

    previous

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (archaic)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Prior; occurring before something else, either in time or order.
  • * Thomson
    • The dull sound previous to the storm, / Rolls o'er the muttering earth.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
    • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood. They dated from the previous century and were coarsely printed on tinted paper, with tinsel outlining the design.}}
    He is no better than the previous Prime Minister.
  • (informal)  Premature; occurring too soon.
    • I thought that I had solved the problem, but I was a bit previous .

    Synonyms

    * former * late * old * See also

    Antonyms

    * future * following * next * succeeding

    Noun

    (-)
  • (informal, UK) An existing criminal record; short for "previous convictions".
    • It turned out the shoplifter had a lot of previous .
  • * November 2 2014 , Daniel Taylor, " Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk
    • For that Smalling will have to do his time grazing in the scapegoat’s paddock because his contribution here supplied hard evidence of a player lacking the football intelligence that is needed at the highest level. He has previous on that front and it is difficult to find any mitigation for the way he scythed down James Milner when the first rule for a defender on a yellow card is not to dive in unless it is absolutely necessary.

    Anagrams

    * *