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:
“I’m competitive. I wanted to win this thing,” he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Rice caught six passes for 39 yards in that game, a 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11, 2024.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
But then once the car is in a better window, then you can fight further up front and eventually, of course, win races.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
“It is one thing to have confidence when you are leading or battling for first place in an industry you are well positioned to win long term,” Fishman said.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
I will never forget how in his inaugural speech on January 20, 1961, he called on Americans to come together to end poverty and win the Cold War.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Now, if the Lobos keep piling up wins they’ll have a chance to reach the College Football Playoff.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
"That's because people don't like cheating, even when their own team wins."
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
Those wins are not small, and the people who did the work to make them real earned every bit of the joy.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
Carrick was also part of Solskjaer's coaching group as United went top of the Premier League when they beat Newcastle just over a month earlier, but two wins in seven suggested all was not well.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
For this particular game, the first person to get twenty-five right wins.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
Why, it wur enough to set up housekeepin wi—and thee only winned twenty-five, Tom; why thic winnin were a heavy loss I think.”
From The Humourous Story of Farmer Bumpkin's Lawsuit by Richard Harris
Hyeah he stan' all weary, but he winned his fight wid sin.
From The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by William Dean Howells
What I wants to know is as this; I winned my case—” “Quite so,” said Prigg.
From The Humourous Story of Farmer Bumpkin's Lawsuit by Richard Harris
Glad to hear tell as your greyhound winned the cup down to Newton coursing.”
From Children of the Mist by Eden Phillpotts
“Ah, we winned the lawsuit; didn’t us, sir?”
From The Humourous Story of Farmer Bumpkin's Lawsuit by Richard Harris
With winning candidates promising moratoriums in key states, data-center builders are weighing their options, from going overseas to building in the desert.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
He topped the rankings for a number of metrics such as touches of the ball, winning possession, contesting duels and drawing the most fouls.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
It was Angel City’s fifth match of the season and Anderson, the team’s goalkeeper, made a crucial error in stoppage time that led to a winning goal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
And where did all those winning candidates come from?
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2026
Now supremely confident of his chances of winning both the eighth and the ninth games, which would give him the match, Bobby rather formally declared that he would dethrone Spassky.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
We made a song with DJ Flict — who produced it — Kid Ink and myself as a theme song for the team and it just so happened that they won the Cup that year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Miss Congeniality is decided by a secret cast vote and the queens were visibly shocked when RuPaul said Paris had won by a landslide.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Black statewide candidates won many contests, including the Georgia governorship and probably that Mississippi Senate seat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The film won the award, and this time, Barroso had a surprise in store, an Oscar-worthy dress ready to go for the big night even though she’d just had surgery after suffering a brain aneurysm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Democratic “dark horse” candidate, Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire, had won election that past November.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
