Definition of "avail" []

• To be of use or advantage to; help: Nothing could avail the dying patient. (verb-transitive)
• To be of use, value, or advantage; serve: Halfway measures will no longer avail. (verb-intransitive)
• Use, benefit, or advantage: labored to no avail. (noun)
• Avail (oneself) of To make use of. (idiom)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "You reported on the usage of the word avail as shorthand or shortspeak for availability."
• "Writers in England who argue for contribution in money ask: "Of what avail is the presence of a few cruisers in Canadian waters?""
• "Jane writes to her sister: Charles has received £30 for his share in the privateer, and expects £10 more; but of what avail is it to take prizes if he lays out the produce in presents to his sisters?"