zero-sum game

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noun Mathematics.

a game in which the sum of the winnings and losses of the various players is always zero, the losses being counted negatively.

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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

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Origin of zero-sum game

First recorded in 1940–45

Words nearby zero-sum game

zero population growth, zero-rate, zero-rated, zero stage, zero-sum, zero-sum game, zeroth, zeroth law of thermodynamics, zero tillage, zero tolerance, zero vector

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use zero-sum game in a sentence

Is it True that “Gays vs. Traditionalists are a Zero-Sum Game”?
Do LGBTs Owe Christians an Olive Branch? Try The Other Way Around|Jay Michaelson|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Advocates often describe a zero-sum game, in which more of one inevitably means less of the other.
Renewables Can Make Fossil Fuel More Efficient|The Daily Beast|May 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Yet the function of blogging in a big-media context is not a zero-sum game.
Why the Washington Post Switched Bloggers|James Poulos|January 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But gaining while your opponents are dropping is all you need to win in the zero-sum game.
Polls Show the GOP Is Now Losing Their Faithful|Kirsten Powers|October 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Jonathan Miller on lessons for Washington from another zero-sum game.
What Politicians Can Learn at the World Series of Poker|Jonathan Miller|July 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for zero-sum game

zero-sum game

noun

(in game theory) a contest in which one person's loss is equal to the other person's gain

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for zero-sum game

zero-sum game

A game in which the sum of the winnings by all the players is zero. In a zero-sum game, a gain by one player must be matched by a loss by another player. Poker is a zero-sum game if the house does not take a cut as a charge for playing.

Cultural definitions for zero-sum game

zero-sum game

A game in which the winnings of some players must equal the losses of the others. Zero-sum games are mentioned in a political context when it is believed that resources are limited, and every decision will produce both winners and losers. In such situations, political decisions will be made on the basis of trade-offs between competing interests.