dominance

noun

dom·i·nance | \ ˈdä-mə-nən(t)s

, ˈdäm-nən(t)s\

Definition of dominance

1 : the fact or state of being dominant: such as

a sociology : controlling, prevailing, or powerful position especially in a social hierarchy (see hierarchy sense 4) male dominance political dominance companies competing for dominance in the market dominance over their rivals

b genetics : the property of one of a pair of alleles or traits that suppresses expression (see expression sense 1b(4)) of the other in the heterozygous condition

c ecology : the influence or control over ecological communities exerted by a dominant (see dominant entry 2 sense 2b)

2 biology : functional (see functional sense 1b) asymmetry between a pair of bodily structures (such as the right and left hands) right brain dominance

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Examples of dominance in a Sentence

although Napoléon had achieved dominance over the European continent, Great Britain still ruled the waves the professor's dominance in the field of ancient Greek history

Recent Examples on the Web

Lolla had appeared so untouchable that even this modest slowdown felt like a dire harbinger—if its dominance was weakening, even incrementally, what would happen to Chicago festivals with less clout? — Leor Galil, Chicago Reader, "Does Chicago have too many music festivals?," 30 May 2018 On the mound dominance (Photo: Michael Sears, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) Pius’ team era was 2.09 entering play Friday, a number fueled by the team’s Big Three of lefty Sam Treffert and right-handers TJ Driver and Kayde Thiele. — Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "With hitting, pitching and chemistry, Pius XI is ready for run to the state tournament," 6 July 2018 Will Jimmy Lake recreate the program’s recent defensive dominance with a relatively inexperienced cast of characters? — Mike Vorel, The Seattle Times, "Spring practice primer: Eight (or more) breakout candidates for the UW Huskies," 27 Mar. 2019 In Manne’s analysis, our society isn’t merely biased against women, but rather actively generates backlash against women who challenge men and male dominance. — Zack Beauchamp, Vox, "The 9 thinkers who made sense of 2018’s chaos," 27 Dec. 2018 Drake’s dominance bests both Post Malone and Kendrick Lamar, who had scored nine of the top 10 on On-Demand Streaming Songs on the charts dated May 12 and May 6, 2017, respectively. — Kevin Rutherford, Billboard, "Drake Breaks Streaming Songs Record, Holds Chart's Top Eight Positions," 10 July 2018 So far, this hasn’t reduced the dominance of card companies, according to Brendan Browne, a credit analyst at S&P Global Ratings. — Nina Trentmann, WSJ, "Mastercard’s New CFO to Juggle Growth Efforts Amid Industry Transformation," 13 Feb. 2019 So there's a danger that shifting responsibility onto online platforms will have the practical effect of cementing the dominance of today's major platforms. — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, "What’s in the sweeping copyright bill just passed by the European Parliament," 12 Sep. 2018 For example, the dominance of Amazon Prime, which recently passed 100 million members, means apartments are now receiving hundreds or even thousands of packages a week. — Ely Portillo And Hannah Lang, charlotteobserver, "There's an 'arms race' to lure renters, and it now involves pet spas and beer gardens," 13 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dominance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.