prevail upon

Verb

prevail upon (third-person singular simple present prevails upon, present participle prevailing upon, simple past and past participle prevailed upon)

1. (idiomatic) To convince; to persuade.
   • Perhaps I can prevail upon him to change his mind.
   • The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   bring round, win over, convict, convince, draw, gain over, persuade, pimp, procure, push