dominant

Everyday

1. Dominant means the strongest, most important or most powerful in a group. tree →
2. Dominant can mean the most noticeable, the thing you see most, like a dominant colour. tree →
3. (science) A dominant gene is one whose feature shows up even if you got it from only one parent. tree →
4. (music) The dominant is the fifth note of a scale. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life and sport it means stronger than the rest: «a dominant team». In science (genetics), brown eyes are often given as an example of a dominant feature (simplified), while blue are recessive. With animals, the dominant one leads the pack. Most people have a dominant hand, the one they write with. Phrases: «dominant hand», «dominant species», «dominant player».

Examples

• Lions are the dominant animals on the savannah. tree →
• My dominant hand is my left hand. tree →
• Red is the dominant colour in the painting. tree →
• The dominant wolf eats first. tree →
• Our team was dominant in the second half. tree →
• The gene for brown eyes is usually dominant. tree →
• English is the dominant language on the internet. tree →

Note

Adjective; noun: dominance; verb: dominate. Spelled with -ant (not -ent). Opposite in genetics: recessive. Myth: eye colour is controlled by several genes, so the simple «brown beats blue» rule is only an approximation.