From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdominantdom‧i‧nant1 /ˈdɒmɪnənt $ ˈdɑː-/ ●●○ W3 AWL adjective 1 STRONG PERSONMAINmore powerful, important, or noticeable than other people or things → dominate The dominant male gorilla is the largest in the group. Japan became dominant in the mass market during the 1980s. its dominant position within the group► see thesaurus at powerful2 controlling or trying to control other people or things – used to show disapproval SYN domineering a dominant personality3 HBH technical a dominant gene causes a child to have a particular physical feature or illness, even if it has been passed on from only one parent → recessive The disease is under the control of a single dominant gene.
Examples from the Corpus
dominant• Brown eyes are dominant.• dominant and aggressive behavior• Gradually, Microsoft became the dominant company in the software business• Overseas, Nielsen remains dominant in gathering sales and other data from retailers.• This was the dominant motif for schools in the first half of the century.• At the time Portugal was the dominant naval power in the Mediterranean.• Their strident moralism jarred with both the measured middle-class radicalism of the repealers and the dominant patrician language of high politics.• These are the dominant players in the Internet access hierarchy and provide other smaller service providers with backbone connectivity.• He suggests that in all cases contradictory discourses are neutralised by the dominant, privileged discourse.• In all of these situations the dominant social system lost its ability to adapt.• TV is the dominant source of information in our society.• Of course, these features of a society will themselves be influenced by its dominant style of adjudication.• But the dominant urban feature in the inter-war period was the growth and spread of London.dominant position• For centuries, they gave it a dominant position.• What's more, the law is on Littlewoods' side in keeping its dominant position.• With many browsers and server programs available, Netscape will lose its dominant position in the business.• Dynamic competition to establish a dominant position may involve reducing costs, process innovation, and product innovation, which are welfare-enhancing.• The primates attained their dominant positions through a combination of military skill, physical prowess, and personal magnetism.• It may also be powerful between close relatives where one may be in a dominant position vis-à-vis the other.• A company in a dominant position which charges excessive prices for its products may be acting abusively.dominantdominant2 noun [singular] technical APMthe fifth note of a musical scale of eight notesExamples from the Corpus
dominant• As the Dolphin approaches, summoned by Arion's song, the suspense is maintained almost to the last by means of secondary dominants.• All the dominants have high frequency here with Calluna the most dominant, and Cladonia species are frequent. 