What does "succeed" mean?
Succeed: To fall heir to; to inherit. [Obs. & R.] Shak.
Additional senses
- 2.To come after; to be subsequent or consequent to; to follow; to pursue. Destructive effects . . . succeeded the curse. Sir T. Browne.
- 3.To support; to prosper; to promote. [R.] Succeed my wish and second my design. Dryden.
- 4.To come in the place of another person, thing, or event; to come next in the usual, natural, or prescribed course of things; to follow; hence, to come next in the possession of anything; -- often with to. If the father left only daughters, they equally succeeded to him in copartnership. Sir M. Hale. Enjoy till I return Short pleasures; for long woes are to succeed! Milton.
- 5.Specifically: To ascend the throne after the removal the death of the occupant. No woman shall succeed in Salique land. Shak.
- 6.To descend, as an estate or an heirloom, in the same family; to devolve. Shak.
- 7.To obtain the object desired; to accomplish what is attempted or intended; to have a prosperous issue or termination; to be successful; as, he succeeded in his plans; his plans succeeded. It is almost impossible for poets to succeed without ambition. Dryden. Spenser endeavored it in Shepherd's Kalendar; but neither will it succeed in English. Dryden.
- 8.To go under cover. [A latinism. Obs.] Will you to the cooler cave succeed! Dryden. See Follow.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00