avail

American  

[uh-veyl] / əˈveɪl /

verb (used with object)

• avails,
  present (3rd person singular)
• availed,
  past participle,  past
• availing
  present participle

1. to be of use or value to; profit; advantage.

   All our efforts availed us little in trying to effect a change.

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verb (used without object)

• avails,
  present (3rd person singular)
• availed,
  past participle,  past
• availing
  present participle

1. to be of use; have force or efficacy; serve; help.

   His strength did not avail against the hostile onslaught.

2. to be of value or profit.

noun

1. advantage; use; efficacy; effective use in the achievement of a goal or objective.

   His belated help will be of little or no avail.

2. Archaic. avails, profits or proceeds.

idioms

1. avail oneself of, to use to one's advantage.

   They availed themselves of the opportunity to hear a free concert.

avail British  

/ əˈveɪl /

verb

1. to be of use, advantage, profit, or assistance (to)

2. to make use of to one's advantage

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noun

1. use or advantage (esp in the phrases of no avail, to little avail )

avail More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing avail

• to no avail

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unavailed
  adjective
• availingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• availing
  present
• availed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• avail
  simple
• avails
  simple
• have availed
  perfect
• has availed
  perfect
• am availing
  progressive
• are availing
  progressive
• is availing
  progressive
• have been availing
  perfect progressive
• has been availing
  perfect progressive

Past

• availed
  simple
• had availed
  perfect
• was availing
  progressive
• were availing
  progressive
• had been availing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will avail
  simple
• will have availed
  perfect
• will be availing
  progressive
• will have been availing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of avail

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English availe, from a- a- ² + Old French vail-, noun stem of valoir “to be worth,” from Latin valēre “to be strong, be well, be of worth”

Explanation

To avail means to take advantage of an opportunity, the way you'd be crazy not to avail yourself of a chocolate milkshake on Free Milkshake Day at your local ice cream parlor. Sometimes avail is used to mean "help," and in that case it can be used in a sentence like "Nothing seemed to avail me, not even winning the lottery." More often though, avail shows up in the company of "oneself of," as in the sentence, "I hope you avail yourself of my advice, because I'm very wise." It might seem like a complicated way to use a verb, but it's one you should avail yourself of if you're hoping to impress someone.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

avail avails availed availing

Concerned employees reportedly ran the story by the outlet’s standards department, to no avail.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

She called her mother, an off-duty GP, who attended the scene, and two further emergency calls were made, to no avail.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

She scoured the pages of Sontag’s “On Photography” to no avail.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Authorities searched for her within the state park from July 9 to 11 to no avail.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

I raised the amount of the reward and threatened to have the guardsmen dismissed for incompetence, but all to no avail.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

The stars have chemistry and charisma; the series avails itself of an impressive cast of guest stars and delectable Italian shooting locations.

From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2024

Bryan Cranston’s movie career avails him of some variety, but on Showtime’s “Your Honor” he plays another version of a good man pushed to commit evil for the sake of protecting his family.

From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2024

Molly avails herself of all modern babyproofing technology in an uphill effort to keep Max alive and un-maimed.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 21, 2018

Meanwhile, he avails himself of the pastry-sample plate.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2018

Persuasion avails little at Court, where always the orator convinces sooner than the argument.

From Rupert Prince Palatine by Eva Scott

As a bonus, I’d learn a few things while she availed herself of uninterrupted free time, which wasn’t really free, since I’d often hear a running vacuum or dishes clanking in the sink.

From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2026

In doing so, Adams also availed himself of millions of dollars in public matching funds.

From Slate ● Jan. 25, 2025

Yet they hardly availed themselves of the city’s busy night life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2024

Thousands more users availed themselves of the COVID-era, pay-what-you-want membership option, Yingling said.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 29, 2024

‘Would that have availed to change your judgement?’ said Denethor.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

An interesting gauntlet was thrown down this week when the parent of Fox News agreed to acquire Roku, availing itself of a post-cable platform to compete for news dominance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

I’m availing myself of the bar that’s already open.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2024

Among the heroes availing themselves of this innovation was one Johnny Weissmuller – later to find fame as cinema’s Tarzan.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2024

"This time frame represents a broad enough range to demonstrate climate change, while also availing of the most recent reliable data that covers both the climate change and extremism dimensions for the country."

From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2024

Lord Willoughby availing himself of the comprehensive nature of the terms then and there obtained, went to England.

From Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume II (of 2) A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day by Anonymous