succession

The process of one thing happening or coming after another.

• Three cars passed in quick succession.
• The bells rang in rapid succession.
• She won two races in succession.

Similar words: posteriority

Common phrases: in quick succession, in rapid succession

A series of people or things that come one after another.

• A succession of storms damaged the roof.
• The house had a succession of owners.
• We watched an endless succession of trucks pass.

How to use it: a succession of someone/something (A succession of visitors arrived throughout the day.)

Similar words: series, sequence

Common phrases: a succession of, long succession

The transfer of the position and power of a king or queen to another person.

• The king announced new rules for succession.
• Her succession to the throne was peaceful.
• The prince is first in the line of succession.

How to use it: succession to something (The law governs succession to the throne.)

Common phrases: royal succession, succession to something, line of succession

A set of rock layers arranged in the order in which they formed.

• The cliff reveals a thick sedimentary succession.
• Fossils help scientists date this rock succession.
• Two geological successions were compared in the study.

Similar words: sequence

Common phrases: sedimentary succession, rock succession, geological succession