English Reference
Idiom idiom

prevail upon


To convince; to persuade.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

I will prevail upon him to help us.

CONTEXTUAL

She managed to prevail upon her busy manager to give her a few days off for the wedding.

COMPLEX

Despite his initial refusal to participate, the committee eventually prevailed upon him to lead the project, citing his unique expertise and long history with the organization.


Last updated August 10, 2026