avail

EN
noun
verb

🇺🇸

/əˈveɪl/

🇺🇸

/əˈveɪl/

🇬🇧

/əˈveɪl/

🇬🇧

/əˈveɪl/

Word Forms

Plural

avails

Past Tense

availed

Past Participle

availed

Gerund

availing

3rd Person

avails

Description

Avail is a formal word meaning either (1) to take advantage of an opportunity or resource (as a verb), or (2) the benefit or advantage gained (as a noun). It’s often used in phrases like 'to no avail' — meaning something was tried but failed to produce results. For example, if you knock on a locked door repeatedly and nobody answers, your efforts were 'to no avail'.

Examples

She availed herself of the free career counseling offered by the university.

Despite hours of pleading, his apology was to no avail — she had already made up her mind.

The new software update is of great avail to remote teams managing complex projects.

He tried every legal avenue, but all his appeals proved to no avail.

Students are encouraged to avail themselves of campus mental health resources.

Root

valere

Comes from the Latin verb 'valere', meaning 'to be strong', 'to be worth', or 'to be able'. It conveys core ideas of power, efficacy, capability, and usefulness. Examples include avail, value, valiant, valid, equivalent, ambivalent, convalesce.