səkˈsēd sometimes sik- verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English succeden, from Latin succedere to go up, follow after, follow, succeed, from sub- up, after + cedere to go, proceed, yield — more at sub- , cede
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to come next after or replace another in an office, position, or role or in possession of an estate : fill a vacancy in an inherited, elective, or appointive position
upon the death of his father he succeeded to a considerable fortune and to his father's position as rector — J.D.Wade
specifically : to inherit sovereignty, rank, or title
upon the death of the president the vice-president would succeed
an instructor in biology … before succeeding to the chairmanship of the department of biology — Current Biography
b. : to follow or take place after another especially in a natural, prescribed, or necessary order, course of events, or development
one idea would succeed to another with a rush — Osbert Sitwell
slate has succeeded to thatch, and brick to timber — T.B.Macaulay
the succeeding fifteen years … were uneventful — J.C.Fitzpatrick
2.
a. : to turn out well : result favorably according to plans or desires
the formula and ingredients that finally succeeded remain the top company secrets — Monsanto Magazine
b. : to attain a desired object or end : accomplish what is attempted or intended : be successful
succeeded in regaining the offensive after a smashing defeat — Reporter
mental abilities high enough to enable them to succeed in college — Clearing House
c. : to attain or be in a thriving, prosperous, or popular state
will produce high quality grapes for wine on gravels where hardly any other crop will succeed — G.G.Weigend
succeeds with our public — E.R.Bentley
3. obsolete : to turn out : result , eventuate
whether the manner of their operation would succeed contrary — Richard Waller
4. obsolete : approach
will you to the cooler cave succeed — John Dryden
5. obsolete : to become the property of a person through inheritance : descend
a ring … that downward hath succeeded in his house from son to son — Shakespeare
transitive verb
1.
a. : to be the event or thing immediately following on or one of the items or events following upon in an ordered sequence or chain of events
simplicity of concept succeeds complexity of calculation — E.T.Bell
the past is merely a series of messes, succeeding one another by discoverable laws — E.M.Forster
the cathedral succeeded a frame building — American Guide Series: Arkansas
b. : to come after or follow in an office, position, role, or title : fill a vacancy as heir or elected or appointed successor to
succeeded her father as keeper of the lighthouse — American Guide Series: Rhode Island
2. obsolete : to fall heir to : inherit
3. obsolete : to follow the example of
succeed thy father in manners as in shape — Shakespeare
4. : to make successful : cause to prosper
Synonyms:
succeed , prosper , thrive , and flourish can mean in common to attain the desired end, or increase or enlarge in that attainment. succeed means to gain one's purpose
succeed in passing a civil service examination
succeed in business
succeed in becoming president
this government succeeded for seventy years — J.P.Boyd
prosper implies continued success
if a genuine democratic revolution should prosper — H.N.Brailsford
education prospers by economy — R.W.Livingstone
the oyster-fishing industry that prospered here in the middle-nineteenth century — American Guide Series: New York City
thrive adds to prosper the idea of vigorous growth
dictatorship thrives on poverty and war thrives on dictatorship — New Republic
the era in which most American firms were born and thrived — C.F.Robinson
the lumber industry throve during the boom days by meeting the needs of rush building — American Guide Series: Texas
flourish suggests a thriving or prospering, especially during a period when the thing is at the peak of its development or productivity
if physics and chemistry and biology have flourished, morals, religion, and aesthetics have withered — J.W.Krutch
three expensive but flourishing weeklies devoted to absolutely nothing but the life of the rich and the titled — Aldous Huxley
the demagogue flourishes most luxuriantly where negligence is flagrant and the abuse of power is arrogant — A.W.Long
Synonym: see in addition follow .