win
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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to finish first in a race, contest, or the like.
My story won in the short fiction category.
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to gain the victory; overcome an adversary.
The home team won.
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to succeed by striving or effort.
He applied for a scholarship and won.
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Slang. to be successful or competent and be acknowledged for it.
My sister wins at finding the best bargains.
verb (used with object)
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to gain (a prize, fame, etc.).
She won a million dollars in the lottery.
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to be victorious or successful in (a game, race, battle, etc.).
The Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series two years in a row.
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to obtain or earn (a point or goal); score.
You win 10 bonus points if you play all your cards in the same turn.
Our team won two goals in the first five minutes!
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to get by effort, as through labor, competition, or conquest.
He won his post after years of striving.
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to gain (favor, love, consent, etc.), as by qualities or influence.
You will win the kids’ respect if you take them seriously.
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to gain the favor, regard, or adherence of.
The candidate won younger voters with his proposal on tuition aid.
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to gain the consent or support of; persuade (often followed byover ).
The speech won them over to our side.
- Synonyms:
- sway, influence, induce, convince, bring around
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to succeed in reaching (a place, condition, etc.), especially by great effort.
They won the shore through a violent storm.
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to persuade to marry; gain in marriage.
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British Mining.
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to obtain (ore, coal, etc.).
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to prepare (a vein, bed, mine, etc.) for working, by means of shafts or the like.
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noun
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wins
plural
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a victory, as in a game or horse race.
The Flames have had only two wins in the whole season.
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the position of the competitor who comes in first in a horse race, harness race, etc.
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Slang.
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a success, or something good.
She was having a bad week, so she really needed a win.
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the state or quality of being successful or good.
There was so much win in last night’s episode!
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adjective
interjection
verb phrase
idioms
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win the internet. internet.
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win one's way, to advance or succeed, as by ability or effort.
The battalion won its way at great cost.
Your original ideas have won their way in a field where it is difficult to say anything new.
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for the win, (used to express enthusiasm for someone or something that is very good, likely to succeed, etc.).
A plant-based diet, for the win!
verb (used with object)
verb
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(intr) to achieve first place in a competition
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(tr) to gain or receive (a prize, first place, etc) in a competition
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(tr) to succeed in or gain (something) with an effort
we won recognition
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to achieve recognition in some field of endeavour
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history to be knighted
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to gain victory or triumph in (a battle, argument, etc)
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(tr) to earn or procure (a living, etc) by work
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(tr) to take possession of, esp violently; capture
the Germans never won Leningrad
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to reach with difficulty (a desired condition or position) or become free, loose, etc, with effort
the boat won the shore
the boat won through to the shore
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(tr) to turn someone into (a supporter, enemy, etc)
you have just won an ally
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(tr) to gain (the sympathy, loyalty, etc) of someone
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(tr) to obtain (a woman, etc) in marriage
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(tr)
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to extract (ore, coal, etc) from a mine
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to extract (metal or other minerals) from ore
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to discover and make (a mineral deposit) accessible for mining
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informal an expression of resignation after an unsuccessful attempt to overcome difficulties
noun
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informal a success, victory, or triumph
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profit; winnings
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the act or fact of reaching the finishing line or post first
verb
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to dry (grain, hay, peat, etc) by exposure to sun and air
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a less common word for winnow
Synonym Usage
See gain 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of win1
First recorded before 900; Middle English verb winnen, win(ne) “to strive, exert effort,” Old English winnan “to labor, work, fight, bear”; cognate with German gewinnen, Old Norse vinna, Gothic winnan
Origin of win2
First recorded in 1550–60; etymology uncertain; perhaps variant of winnow
Vocabulary lists containing win
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The left-back played the full game for manager Thomas Tuchel's side in the 3-2 defeat by Spain but missed Tuesday's 2-0 win against the Czech Republic.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
They traded for him to help them win a third consecutive World Series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
To win in the first round, a candidate needs more than 50 percent of valid votes.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Vertex Ventures Japan aims to help domestic startups win overseas clients by tapping into the global network of Temasek-supported companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
As I hurried to unlock the window, I had the absurd thought that if we ever played chicken, she’d win by a landslide.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
His office also successfully defended California’s transgender athlete policies against the Trump administration’s Title IX claims, defeated the challenge to its Proposition 39 description and secured some early wins in the Paramount case.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Such has become the new normal for frontier-model announcements in the post-Mythos age, where touting the guardrails can seem to outweigh posting the wins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
“We told them that if she wins, ‘Y’all can actually go back to school, a public school,’ and they’re excited.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2026
Amodei called it was a way "to win safely", referring to the president's comment earlier this month that "whoever wins AI, wins".
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Whenever Erin wins she says something like, “Ah, too bad, Mr. McManus. Maybe next time, old-timer.”
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
If I winned I was goin' to buy Delaney's cafe.
From Heart of the West by O. Henry
“Ah, we winned the lawsuit; didn’t us, sir?”
From The Humourous Story of Farmer Bumpkin's Lawsuit by Richard Harris
Yes, suh, I winned; w'y, at de finish I come down dat track lak hit was de Jedgment Day an' I was de las' one up!
From The heart of happy hollow A collection of stories by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Why, whut you spec' I's doin' hyeah ef I hadn' winned?
From The heart of happy hollow A collection of stories by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Glad to hear tell as your greyhound winned the cup down to Newton coursing.”
From Children of the Mist by Eden Phillpotts
By the end of it, Maye had led the Patriots to a Super Bowl appearance and barely missed out on winning the league’s Most Valuable Player Award.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Bonta, 54, worked as a deputy city attorney in San Francisco before winning a seat in the state Legislature in 2012 and serving there for eight years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
He left with silverware, too, twice winning both the MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
"All we care about is winning the final, no matter who we are playing against," he said of the prospect of facing India.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
If he could draw every game, giving him 12 points, Spassky would retain his title without winning a game.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Last season, Ronaldo and Al-Nassr won the Saudi Pro League title with Jesus as their coach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The Prison Radio Association's series about problem gambling, Hold or Fold, won the overall top prize for best podcast, and the award for best factual podcast.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Twining, a retired engineering executive, won, but he wasn’t in a celebratory mood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Former supermodel Naomi Campbell won a legal challenge on Thursday to overturn a five-year ban on being a charity trustee after a panel accepted she had been the victim of deception.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
“Folks said Pa was a fool for not going north. ‘Northerners won the Civil War,’ Sukie, his best friend, the blacksmith, said.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
