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 Dodgers needed a pivotal win on home soil against the Brewers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Sunrisers Leeds were bowled out for just 91 as Trent Rockets cruised to an emphatic eight-wicket win in the women's Hundred final at Lord's.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Incumbent Hakainde Hichilema on Sunday pulled ahead in Zambia's presidential election with more than half of constituencies tallied, the electoral commission said, putting him on course for an outright win in the first round.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Cheng and Kraft tied the set at 15, but Brasher and Cruz pulled ahead for the 21-18 win.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Once I’m his stepfather, I’ll win him over to my way of thinking, mark my words.”
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
While they chase AVP and Olympic wins, the couple also are planning a wedding after Schalk surprised Rodriguez with a bold question early in their relationship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
If Gradik wins her case, it could set a precedent across Austria, the lawyer said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Count Binface wins a quarter of the vote vs.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson wins her 800m semi-final leading home Femke Broeders-Bol of the Netherlands.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
I’d like to say a smug smile didn’t appear on my face, but you take the wins you can get.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
If I winned I was goin' to buy Delaney's cafe.
From Heart of the West by O. Henry
Ay, sir, but he winned the game, an' that's aye a loss for Geordie; he aye tak's himsel' to the tavern when he wins.
From St. Cuthbert's by Robert E. Knowles
Hyeah he stan' all weary, but he winned his fight wid sin.
From The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by William Dean Howells
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
“Ah, we winned the lawsuit; didn’t us, sir?”
From The Humourous Story of Farmer Bumpkin's Lawsuit by Richard Harris
His winning bid, a bargain next to housing prices elsewhere, was steep compared with what Baltimore’s vacant homes used to command.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Crabb previously clinched a Manhattan Beach Pier bronze plaque, but it was Benesh’s first time winning the open.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
The four-time major winner outscored his playing partner and close friend Sam Burns by seven shots as he signed for a four-under 66 to get back on the winning trail.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the week down 0.6% on Friday, snapping a two-week winning streak.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Natalie ran back inside and took all the photos off the walls: Natalie winning the sixth-grade science fair.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
It was the tournament’s first three-peat since Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings won four straight titles from 2005-08.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Rodri leaves City having won 12 major honours, including four Premier League titles, two FA Cups, three EFL Cups and the Champions League in 2022-23.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Hichilema himself won office in 2021 on his sixth attempt, defeating arch-rival Edgar Lungu in a landslide.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
This is the same Jimmy Chin who later filmed Alex Honnold as he climbed El Capitan in Yosemite without ropes or harness in “Free Solo,” which won the 2019 Oscar for Best Documentary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
We were not surprised that he came in third in his first race and won a pair of beaded mukluks.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
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.
