avail
English
WOTD – 15 August 2012
Etymology
From Middle English availen (“to be of use”), from Old French a (“to”) + vail (from valoir (“to be worth”)).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /əˈveɪl/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪl
Verb
avail (third-person singular simple present avails, present participle availing, simple past and past participle availed)
- (transitive, often reflexive) To turn to the advantage of.
- I availed myself of the opportunity.
- (transitive) To be of service to.
- Artifices will not avail the sinner in the day of judgment.
- (transitive) To promote; to assist.
- 1713, Alexander Pope, The Wife of Bath Her Prologue, translation of original by Geoffrey Chaucer:
- All of this avail’d not, for whoe’er he be
That tells my faults, I hate him mortally;
-
- (intransitive) To be of use or advantage; to answer or serve the purpose; to have strength, force, or efficacy sufficient to accomplish the object.
- The plea in court must avail.
- This scheme will not avail.
- Medicines will not avail to halt the disease.
- 1817, Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy:
- Words avail very little with me, young man.
- (India, Africa, elsewhere proscribed) To provide; to make available; to use or take advantage of (an opportunity or available resource).
- You can avail discounts on food.
- 2004, November 16, “Nik Ogbulie”, in Decongesting the Banking Floors:
- With this initiative, Valucard becomes an open system that is not limited to point of sale (POS) transactions, but now avails cash to its holders in various locations nationwide.
Antonyms
- disavail
Derived terms
- available
- disavail
Related terms
terms related to avail (verb)
- availability
- availingly
- unavailable
- unavailing
Translations
to turn to the advantage of
|
to be of service to
|
to promote; to assist
|
to be of use (intransitive)
|
Noun
avail (plural avails)
- Effect in achieving a goal or aim; purpose, use (now usually in negative constructions). [from 15th c.]
- I tried fixing it, to no avail
- Labor, without economy, is of little avail.
- 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175, page 071:
- Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.
- 2014, Paul Doyle, "Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter", The Guardian, 18 October:
- At half-time, Poyet replaced Wes Brown with Liam Bridcutt in the heart of defence and sent out the rest of the players to atone for their first-half mistakes. To no avail.
- (now only US) Proceeds; profits from business transactions. [from 15th c.]
- 1862, Elijah Porter Barrows, The State And Slavery
- the avails of their own industry
- 1862, Elijah Porter Barrows, The State And Slavery
- (television, advertising) An advertising slot or package.
- 1994, Barry L. Sherman, Telecommunications Management: Broadcasting/cable and the New Technologies, →ISBN, page 353:
- The salesperson at an affiliate TV station might prepare an avail which offers two weeks of spots in early and late news […].
- 2004, Walter S. Ciciora et al., Modern Cable Television Technology: Video, Voice, and Data Communications, →ISBN, page 123:
- At an avail, the ad server plays out the MPEG-2 audio/video elementary streams.
-
- (US, politics, journalism) A press avail.
- While holding an avail yesterday, the candidate lashed out at critics.
- (Britain, acting) Non-binding notice of availability for work.
- (oil industry) A readily available stock of oil.
- 1967, Interstate Compact on Oil and Gas (10th Extension), page 95:
- Total crude oil avails (production plus purchases) of even highly "self-sufficient" refiners are far greater than their reported refinery inputs.
-
- (obsolete) Benefit; value, profit; advantage toward success. [15th–19th c.]
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “ij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book II:
- I shal take the aduenture sayd Balen that god wille ordeyne me / but the swerd ye shalle not haue at this tyme by the feythe of my body / ye shalle repente hit within short tyme sayd the damoysel/ For I wold haue the swerd more for your auaylle than for myne / for I am passyng heuy for your sake
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 1, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book III, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
- hardy Citizens […] sticke not to sacrifice their honours and consciences, as those of old, their lives, for their Countries availe and safety.
- 1895, Andrew Lang, A Monk of Fife:
- So this friar, unworthy as he was of his holy calling, had me at an avail on every side, nor do I yet see what I could do but obey him, as I did.
-
- (obsolete, poetic) Effort; striving.
- 1613, Thomas Campion, “Songs of Mourning”, in Poetical Works (in English) of Thomas Campion, published 1907, page 125:
- And ev'n now, though he breathless lies, his sails / Are struggling with the winds, for our avails / T'explore a passage hid from human tract, / Will fame him in the enterprise or fact.
-
Usage notes
- (success or benefit): Very often encountered in negative phrases, such as of or to no or little avail.
Derived terms
- to little avail
- to no avail
Translations
benefit; value, profit; advantage toward success
|
proceeds
|
Anagrams
- Alavi, Alvia, Avila