Succeed, applying universal rate to most of journey (7)
I believe the answer is:
triumph
'succeed' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'universal rate to most of journey' is the wordplay.
'universal' becomes 'u'.
'rate' becomes 'mph' (mph is a kind of rate).
'to' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
'most of' means to remove the last letter.
'journey' becomes 'trip' (trip is a kind of journey).
'trip' with its final letter taken away is 'tri'.
'u'+'mph'='umph'
'umph' after 'tri' is 'TRIUMPH'.
'applying' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for triumph that I've seen before include "Great victory or achievement" , "Notable achievement" , "Exultant victory" , "Conquer, prevail" , "Victory - jubilation" .)