prevailing wind
Scientific-
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
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.
In Ukraine, prevailing winds blow east, meaning balloons naturally float toward Russia.
This variation is also due to the wind direction, with rain being blown in by a prevailing wind coming off the North Sea, dragging in extra moisture which has enhanced both the rain and cloud.
From BBC
Areas exposed to those prevailing winds have had the wettest weather.
From BBC
It blew topsy-turvy in an eastward direction, borne by fate and the prevailing winds toward the wide, unforgiving sea.
From Literature
In an age when every middle-class household could afford a few hearth gods, the superior collector consummated his passion for beauty against the “prevailing winds of progress, fashion, democracy, money, and modernity.”
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.
