Library / English Dictionary

PREDOMINATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having superior power and influence

Example:

the predominant mood among policy-makers is optimism

Synonyms:

overriding; paramount; predominant; predominate; preponderant; preponderating

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

dominant (exercising influence or control)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be larger in number, quantity, power, status or importance

Example:

Hispanics predominate in this neighborhood

Synonyms:

dominate; predominate; prevail; reign; rule

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "predominate"):

override (prevail over)

overarch (be central or dominant)

outbalance; outweigh; overbalance; preponderate (weigh more heavily)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

predominance (the state of being predominant over others)

predominant (most frequent or common)

predomination (the state of being predominant over others)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Appear very large or occupy a commanding position

Example:

Large shadows loomed on the canyon wall

Synonyms:

hulk; loom; predominate; tower

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "predominate" is one way to...):

lift; rear; rise (rise up)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

predomination (the quality of being more noticeable than anything else)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A predominate bone structure which borders the ilium wing stretching from the anterior superior iliac spine to the posterior superior iliac spine.

(Iliac Crest, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

I heard voices, too, speaking with a hollow sound, and as if muffled by a rush of wind or water: agitation, uncertainty, and an all-predominating sense of terror confused my faculties.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A subtype of delusional disorder applied when no one delusional theme (such as grandiose, jealous, persecutory) predominates.

(Mixed Type Delusional Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

A rare type of acute leukemia in which the predominating cell in the peripheral blood is the plasma cell; it is often seen in conjunction with multiple myeloma and may be a variant form of that disease.

(Plasma Cell Leukemia, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)

Because the two types of fungi are expected to respond differently to a changing climate, knowing where each type predominates may help scientists predict where forests will thrive in the future and where they will falter.

(NASA Satellite Images Uncover Underground Forest Fungi, NASA)

Then the good predominated.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

While thus engaged, Elizabeth had a fair opportunity of deciding whether she most feared or wished for the appearance of Mr. Darcy, by the feelings which prevailed on his entering the room; and then, though but a moment before she had believed her wishes to predominate, she began to regret that he came.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The first message submitted to me was so short that it was impossible for me to do more than to say, with some confidence, that the symbol XXX stood for E. As you are aware, E is the most common letter in the English alphabet, and it predominates to so marked an extent that even in a short sentence one would expect to find it most often.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I felt a drop or two of blood from my head trickle down my neck, and was sensible of somewhat pungent suffering: these sensations for the time predominated over fear, and I received him in frantic sort.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

In his singular character the dual nature alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally predominated in him.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)