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avail - 8 dictionary results

a⋅vail

  [uh-veyl]
Use avail in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to be of use or value to; profit; advantage: All our efforts availed us little in trying to effect a change.
–verb (used without object)
2. to be of use; have force or efficacy; serve; help: His strength did not avail against the hostile onslaught.
3. to be of value or profit.
–noun
4. advantage; use; efficacy; effective use in the achievement of a goal or objective: His belated help will be of little or no avail.
5. avails, Archaic. profits or proceeds.
—Idiom
6. avail oneself of, to use to one's advantage: They availed themselves of the opportunity to hear a free concert.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME availe, equiv. to a- a- 2 + vaile < OF vail- (s. of valoir) < L valēre to be of worth

Related forms:
a⋅vail⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To avail
a·vail   (ə-vāl')   
v.   a·vailed, a·vail·ing, a·vails

v.   tr.
To be of use or advantage to; help: Nothing could avail the dying patient.
v.   intr.
To be of use, value, or advantage; serve: Halfway measures will no longer avail.
n.  Use, benefit, or advantage: labored to no avail.

[Middle English availen : a-, intensive pref. (from Latin ad-; see ad-) + Old French valoir, vail-, to be worth (from Latin valēre, to be strong; see wal- in Indo-European roots).]
a·vail'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Avail

A*vail"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Availed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Availing.] [OE. availen, fr. F. ? (L. ad) + valoir to be worth, fr. L. valere to be strong, to be worth. See Valiant.]

1. To turn to the advantage of; to be of service to; to profit; to benefit; to help; as, artifices will not avail the sinner in the day of judgment.

O, what avails me now that honor high ! --Milton.

2. To promote; to assist. [Obs.] --Pope.

To avail one's self of, to make use of; take advantage of.

Then shall they seek to avail themselves of names. --Milton.

I have availed myself of the very first opportunity. --Dickens.

Avail

A*vail"\, v. i. To be of use or advantage; to answer the purpose; to have strength, force, or efficacy sufficient to accomplish the object; as, the plea in bar must avail, that is, be sufficient to defeat the suit; this scheme will not avail; medicines will not avail to check the disease. "What signs avail ?" --Milton.

Words avail very little with me, young man. --Sir W. Scott.

Avail

A*vail"\, n. 1. Profit; advantage toward success; benefit; value; as, labor, without economy, is of little avail.

The avail of a deathbed repentance. --Jer. Taylor.

2. pl. Proceeds; as, the avails of a sale by auction.

The avails of their own industry. --Stoddard.

Syn: Use; benefit; utility; profit; service.

Avail

A*vail"\, v. t. & i. See Avale, v. [Obs.] --Spenser.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : avail
Spanish: en vano, inútil,
German: nutzlos,
Japanese: 役にたつ
More Translations »

avail 
c.1300, availen, from a- "to" + vailen "to avail," from O.Fr. vaill-, stem of valoir "be worth," from L. valere (see valiant). Available (1451) originally meant "valid, effective;" sense of "at one's disposal, capable of being availed of" first recorded 1827.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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avail

In addition to the idiom beginning with avail, also see to no avail.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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