prevailing wind
Americannoun
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Meteorology. a wind from a specified direction that is the typical or predominant wind direction in a particular region or season (often used in the plural).
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the dominant direction of public attitudes and trends.
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A wind that blows predominantly from a single general direction. The trade winds of the tropics, which blow from the east throughout the year, are prevailing winds.
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See illustration at wind
Other Word Forms
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.
Yana Valachovic, a fire scientist at the University of California, said some of the spared houses were tucked away from prevailing wind currents so that embers didn’t hit them.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2025
Agguttinni means "where the prevailing wind occurs" in the Inuktitut local dialect.
From Science Daily • Mar. 12, 2024
Do you have a prevailing wind direction in your yard?
From Seattle Times • Nov. 21, 2023
Authorities are strongly recommending limited outdoor activities across portions of south-east Albuquerque and the South Valley, where the prevailing wind carried the smoke.
From BBC • Aug. 7, 2023
She rode the prevailing wind over the familiar mountains and rivers and beyond the Catskills into unknown territory.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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.
