What does succeed mean?

Definitions for succeed
səkˈsidsuc·ceed

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word succeed.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. succeed, win, come through, bring home the bacon, deliver the goodsverb

    attain success or reach a desired goal

    "The enterprise succeeded"; "We succeeded in getting tickets to the show"; "she struggled to overcome her handicap and won"

  2. succeed, come after, followverb

    be the successor (of)

    "Carter followed Ford"; "Will Charles succeed to the throne?"

Wiktionary

  1. succeedverb

    To follow in order; to come next after; hence, to take the place of.

  2. succeedverb

    To obtain the object desired; to accomplish what is attempted or intended; to have a prosperous issue or termination; to be successful.

  3. succeedverb

    To fall heir to; to inherit.

  4. succeedverb

    To come after; to be subsequent or consequent to; to follow; to pursue.

  5. succeedverb

    To support; to prosper; to promote.

  6. succeedverb

    To come in the place of another person, thing, or event; to come next in the usual, natural, or prescribed course of things; to follow; hence, to come next in the possession of anything; -- often with to.

  7. succeedverb

    Specifically: To ascend the throne after the removal the death of the occupant.

  8. succeedverb

    To descend, as an estate or an heirloom, in the same family; to devolve.

  9. succeedverb

    To go under cover.

  10. Etymology: From succeder, from succedo

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To Succeedverb

    In that place no creature was hurtful unto man, and those destructive effects they now discover succeeded the curse, and came in with thorns and briars. Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errours.

    Now frequent trines the happier lights among,
    And high-rais’d Jove from his dark prison freed,
    Those weights took off that on his planet hung,
    Will gloriously the new laid works succeed. Dryden.

    Succeed my wish, and second my design,
    The fairest Deiopeia shall be thine,
    And make thee father of a happy line. John Dryden, Æn.

  2. To SUCCEEDverb

    Etymology: succeder, French; succedo, Latin.

    If I were now to die,
    ’Twere to be most happy; for I fear,
    My soul hath her consent so absolute,
    That not another comfort like to this
    Succeeds in unknown fate. William Shakespeare, Othello.

    Those of all ages to succeed will curse my head. John Milton.

    Workmen let it cool by degrees in such relentings of nealing heats, lest it should shiver in pieces by a violent succeeding of air in the room of the fire. Kenelm Digby, on Bodies.

    Enjoy ’till I return
    Short pleasures; for long woes are to succeed. John Milton.

    If the father left only daughters, they equally succeeded to him in copartnership, without prelation or preference of the eldest to a double portion. Matthew Hale.

    Revenge succeeds to love, and rage to grief. Dryden.

    While these limbs the vital spirit feeds,
    While day to night, and night to day succeeds,
    Burnt-off’rings morn and ev’ning shall be thine,
    And fires eternal in thy temples shine. Dryden.

    These dull harmless makers of lampoons are yet of dangerous example to the publick: some witty men may succeed to their designs, and, mixing sense with malice, blast the reputation of the most innocent. Dryden.

    The pretensions of Saul’s family, who received his crown from the immediate appointment of God, ended with his reign; and David, by the same title, succeeded in his throne, to the exclusion of Jonathan. John Locke.

    ’Tis almost impossible for poets to succeed without ambition: imagination must be raised by a desire of fame to a desire of pleasing. Dryden.

    This address I have long thought owing; and if I had never attempted, I might have been vain enough to think I might have succeeded. Dryden.

    A knave’s a knave to me in ev’ry state;
    Alike my scorn, if he succeed or fail:
    Sporus at court, or Japhet in a jail. Alexander Pope.

    If thou deal truly, thy doings shall prosperously succeed to thee. Tob. iv. 6.

    This was impossible for Virgil to imitate, because of the severity of the Roman language: Spencer endeavoured it in Sheperd’s Kalendar; but neither will it succeed in English. Dry.

    Please that silvan scene to take,
    Where whistling winds uncertain shadows make;
    Or will you to the cooler cave succeed,
    Whose mouth the curling vines have overspread. Dryden.

Wikipedia

  1. succeed

    Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person might consider a success what another person considers a failure, particularly in cases of direct competition or a zero-sum game. Similarly, the degree of success or failure in a situation may be differently viewed by distinct observers or participants, such that a situation that one considers to be a success, another might consider to be a failure, a qualified success or a neutral situation. For example, a film that is a commercial failure or even a box-office bomb can go on to receive a cult following, with the initial lack of commercial success even lending a cachet of subcultural coolness.It may also be difficult or impossible to ascertain whether a situation meets criteria for success or failure due to ambiguous or ill-defined definition of those criteria. Finding useful and effective criteria, or heuristics, to judge the failure or success of a situation may itself be a significant task.

ChatGPT

  1. succeed

    To succeed means to accomplish a desired aim, goal, or purpose, or to achieve a positive outcome in a particular task or endeavor. It can also refer to taking over a position or role from someone else, or thriving and prospering in various aspects of life or work.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Succeedverb

    to follow in order; to come next after; hence, to take the place of; as, the king's eldest son succeeds his father on the throne; autumn succeeds summer

  2. Succeedverb

    to fall heir to; to inherit

  3. Succeedverb

    to come after; to be subsequent or consequent to; to follow; to pursue

  4. Succeedverb

    to support; to prosper; to promote

  5. Succeedverb

    to come in the place of another person, thing, or event; to come next in the usual, natural, or prescribed course of things; to follow; hence, to come next in the possession of anything; -- often with to

  6. Succeedverb

    specifically: To ascend the throne after the removal the death of the occupant

  7. Succeedverb

    to descend, as an estate or an heirloom, in the same family; to devolve

  8. Succeedverb

    to obtain the object desired; to accomplish what is attempted or intended; to have a prosperous issue or termination; to be successful; as, he succeeded in his plans; his plans succeeded

  9. Succeedverb

    to go under cover

  10. Etymology: [L. succedere, successum; sub under + cedere to go, to go along, approach, follow, succeed: cf. F. succder. See Cede, and cf. Success.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Succeed

    suk-sēd′, v.t. to come after, to follow up or in order: to follow: to take the place of.—v.i. to follow in order: to take the place of: to obtain one's wish or accomplish what is attempted: to end with advantage.—adjs. Succeed′able, capable of success; Succeed′ant (her.), following one another.—ns. Succeed′er, one who succeeds: a successor; Success′, act of succeeding or state of having succeeded: the prosperous termination of anything attempted: one who, or that which, succeeds, a successful person or affair.—adj. Success′ful, resulting in success: having the desired effect or termination: prosperous.—adv. Success′fully.—ns. Success′fulness, state of being successful: success; Succes′sion, act of succeeding or following after: series of persons or things following each other in time or place: series of descendants: race: (agri.) rotation, as of crops: right to take possession: in Roman and Scots law, the taking of property by one person in place of another.—adj. Succes′sional, existing in a regular succession or in order.—adv. Succes′sionally.—n. Succes′sionist, one who regards only that priesthood as valid which can be traced in a direct line of succession from the apostles.—adj. Succes′sive, following in succession or in order.—adv. Succes′sively.—n. Succes′siveness.—adj. Success′less, without success: unprosperous.—ns. Succes′sor, one who succeeds or comes after: one who takes the place of another; Succes′sorship.—adj. Succes′sory.—Succession duty, a tax imposed on any succession to property, varying with the degree of relationship.—Apostolical succession (see Apostle). [L. succedĕresub, up, cedĕre, to go.]

Editors Contribution

  1. succeed

    To complete a specific goal or task.

    She and her future husband did succeed with booking their wedding as they were so organized.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 5, 2020  

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'succeed' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4275

  2. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'succeed' in Verbs Frequency: #377

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of succeed in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of succeed in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of succeed in a Sentence

  1. German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel:

    That's why Europe must succeed, in the first half of the year, in reducing the number of refugees who come to Germany every year.

  2. David Viscott:

    To fail is a natural consequence of trying, To succeed takes time and prolonged effort in the face of unfriendly odds. To think it will be any other way, no matter what you do, is to invite yourself to be hurt and to limit your enthusiasm for trying again.

  3. Rainer Maria Rilke:

    Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue to exist, a wonderful living side by side can grow up, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see each other whole against the sky.

  4. Pano Anthos:

    Stores are proud of their heritage, their whole model is, ‘we’ve been around for 150, 200 years.’ But that heritage means they don’t change very much, very fast, and when they put something in, if it doesn’t succeed right away, it’s considered a failure. … Startup companies think of failure as a learning experience. That never crosses the mind or the culture of a retailer.

  5. C.S. Lewis:

    Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

succeed#1#7561#10000

Translations for succeed

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"succeed." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/succeed>.

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