preponderate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to exceed something else in weight; be the heavier.
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to incline downward or descend, as one scale or end of a balance, because of greater weight; be weighed down.
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to be superior in power, force, influence, number, amount, etc.; predominate.
Evidence for the accused preponderated at the trial.
verb
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(often foll by over) to be more powerful, important, numerous, etc (than)
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to be of greater weight than something else
Other Word Forms
- preponderately adverb
- preponderating adjective
- preponderation noun
- unpreponderated adjective
- unpreponderating adjective
Etymology
Origin of preponderate
1615–25; < Latin praeponderātus, past participle of praeponderāre to outweigh. See pre-, ponder, -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“If his own opinion prevails at some times, he should acquiesce on seeing that of others preponderate at others. Without this mutual disposition we are disjointed individuals, but not a society.”
From Washington Post • Jan. 10, 2019
These seek their complement in the other sex cell, but if the male micro-cellules preponderate in number over the female the result will be a male embryo, and vice versa.
From Time Magazine Archive
While it is true that some Reformed Congregations hold their services on Sunday, the preponderate number of them still cling to the traditional sabbath.
From Time Magazine Archive
He specifically stated that "management of the institution must be genuinely international, without preponderate power of veto."
From Time Magazine Archive
Among some, the physical wants or animal propensities preponderate; in others, these are subordinate to the speculative tendencies—the cravings for the abstract, the supernatural.
From The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races With Particular Reference to Their Respective Influence in the Civil and Political History of Mankind by Arthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
