Adjacent Words

Win definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WIN, v.t. pret. and pp. won. [G.]
1. To gain by success in competition or contest; as, to win the prize in a game; to win money; to win a battle, or to win a country. Battles are won by superior strength or skill.
--Who thus shall Canaan win.
2. To gain by solicitation or courtship.
3. To obtain; to allure to kindness or compliance. Thy virtue won me. Win your enemy by kindness.
4. To gain by persuasion or influence; as, an orator wins his audience by argument. The advocate has won the jury.
And Mammon wins his way, where seraphs might despair.
WIN, v.t.
1. To gain the victory.
Nor is it aught but just that he, who in debate of truth hath won, should win in arms.
To win upon, to gain favor or influence; as, to win upon the heart or affections.
2. To gain ground.
The rabble will in time win upon power.
To win of, to be conqueror.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a victory (as in a race or other competition); "he was happy to get the win"
2: something won (especially money) [syn: winnings, win, profits] [ant: losings, losses] v
1: be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious; "He won the Gold Medal in skating"; "Our home team won"; "Win the game" [ant: lose]
2: win something through one's efforts; "I acquired a passing knowledge of Chinese"; "Gain an understanding of international finance" [syn: acquire, win, gain] [ant: lose]
3: obtain advantages, such as points, etc.; "The home team was gaining ground"; "After defeating the Knicks, the Blazers pulled ahead of the Lakers in the battle for the number-one playoff berth in the Western Conference" [syn: gain, advance, win, pull ahead, make headway, get ahead, gain ground] [ant: drop off, fall back, fall behind, lose, recede]
4: attain success or reach a desired goal; "The enterprise succeeded"; "We succeeded in getting tickets to the show"; "she struggled to overcome her handicap and won" [syn: succeed, win, come through, bring home the bacon, deliver the goods] [ant: fail, go wrong, miscarry]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (won; winning) Etymology: Middle English winnen, from Old English winnan to struggle; akin to Old High German winnan to struggle and probably to Latin venus sexual desire, charm, Sanskrit vanas desire, vanoti he strives for Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. a. to get possession of by effort or fortune b. to obtain by work ; earn <striving to win a living from the sterile soil> 2. a. to gain in or as if in battle or contest <won the championship> b. to be the victor in <won the war> 3. a. to make friendly or favorable to oneself or to one's cause — often used with over <won him over with persuasive arguments> b. to induce to accept oneself in marriage <was unable to win the woman he loved> 4. a. to obtain (as ore, coal, or clay) by mining b. to prepare (as a vein or bed) for regular mining c. to recover (as metal) from ore 5. to reach by expenditure of effort intransitive verb 1. to gain the victory in a contest ; succeed 2. to succeed in arriving at a place or a state • winless adjective • winnable adjective II. noun Date: 1862 victory; especially first place at the finish (as of a horse race)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. (winning; past and past part. won) 1 tr. acquire or secure as a result of a fight, contest, bet, litigation, or some other effort (won some money; won my admiration). 2 tr. be victorious in (a fight, game, race, etc.). 3 intr. a be the victor; win a race or contest etc. (who won?; persevere, and you will win). b (foll. by through, free, etc.) make one's way or become by successful effort. 4 tr. reach by effort (win the summit; win the shore). 5 tr. obtain (ore) from a mine. 6 tr. dry (hay etc.) by exposure to the air. --n. victory in a game or bet etc. Phrases and idioms: win the day be victorious in battle, argument, etc. win over persuade, gain the support of. win one's spurs 1 colloq. gain distinction or fame. 2 hist. gain a knighthood. win through (or out) overcome obstacles. you can't win colloq. there is no way to succeed. you can't win them all colloq. a resigned expression of consolation on failure. Derivatives: winnable adj. Etymology: OE winnan toil, endure: cf. OHG winnan, ON vinna

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Win Win, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Won, Obs. Wan; p. pr. & vb. n. Winning.] [OE. winnen, AS. winnan to strive, labor, fight, endure; akin to OFries. winna, OS. winnan, D. winnen to win, gain, G. gewinnen, OHG. winnan to strive, struggle, Icel. vinna to labor, suffer, win, Dan. vinde to win, Sw. vinna, Goth. winnan to suffer, Skr. van to wish, get, gain, conquer. [root]138. Cf. Venerate, Winsome, Wish, Wont, a.] 1. To gain by superiority in competition or contest; to obtain by victory over competitors or rivals; as, to win the prize in a gate; to win money; to win a battle, or to win a country. ``This city for to win.'' --Chaucer. ``Who thus shall Canaan win.'' --Milton. Thy well-breathed horse Impels the flying car, and wins the course. --Dryden. 2. To allure to kindness; to bring to compliance; to gain or obtain, as by solicitation or courtship. Thy virtue wan me; with virtue preserve me. --Sir P. Sidney. She is a woman; therefore to be won. --Shak. 3. To gain over to one's side or party; to obtain the favor, friendship, or support of; to render friendly or approving; as, to win an enemy; to win a jury. 4. To come to by toil or effort; to reach; to overtake. [Archaic] Even in the porch he him did win. --Spenser. And when the stony path began, By which the naked peak they wan, Up flew the snowy ptarmigan. --Sir W. Scott. 5. (Mining) To extract, as ore or coal. --Raymond. Syn: To gain; get; procure; earn. See Gain.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Win Win, v. i. To gain the victory; to be successful; to triumph; to prevail. Nor is it aught but just That he, who in debate of truth hath won, should win in arms. --Milton. To win of, to be conqueror over. [Obs.] --Shak. To win on or upon. (a) To gain favor or influence with. ``You have a softness and beneficence winning on the hearts of others.'' --Dryden. (b) To gain ground on. ``The rabble . . . will in time win upon power.'' --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(wins, winning, won) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. If you win something such as a competition, battle, or argument, you defeat those people you are competing or fighting against, or you do better than everyone else involved. He does not have any realistic chance of winning the election... The top four teams all won... Sanchez Vicario won 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. ? lose VERB: V n, V, V amount, also V n amount • Win is also a noun. ...Arsenal's dismal league run of eight games without a win... = victory ? defeat N-COUNT 2. If something wins you something such as an election, competition, battle, or argument, it causes you to defeat the people competing with you or fighting you, or to do better than everyone else involved. That sort of gain for Labour is nothing like good enough to win them the general election... ? lose VERB: V n n 3. If you win something such as a prize or medal, you get it because you have defeated everyone else in something such as an election, competition, battle, or argument, or have done very well in it. The first correct entry wins the prize... She won bronze for Great Britain in the European Championships. VERB: V n, V n 4. If you win something that you want or need, you succeed in getting it. ...moves to win the support of the poor... British Aerospace has won an order worth 340 million dollars. = gain ? lose VERB: V n, V n 5. If something wins you a prize or wins you something else that you want, it causes you to get it. The feat won them a prize of £85,000... ? lose VERB: V n n 6. see also winning 7. to lose the battle but win the war: see battle to win the day: see day to win hands down: see hand

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Get (by mastery or in competition), gain, obtain, procure, acquire, earn, achieve, catch. 2. Bring over, gain over, get the compliance of. II. v. n. 1. Succeed, be successful, gain the victory. 2. [Archaic or poetical.] Reach, get, arrive.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A penny,

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To steal. The cull has won a couple of rum glimsticks; the fellow has stolen a pair of fine candlesticks.

Moby Thesaurus

Cadmean victory, KO, Pyrrhic victory, accomplish, achieve, acquire, annex, argue into, ascendancy, attain, bag, be seized of, bear the palm, beat, beat all hollow, best, bring in, bring over, bring round, bring to reason, captivate, capture, carry, carry away, carry it, carry off, carry the day, catch, chalk up, championship, charm, clobber, come by, come in for, come into, come out first, con, conquer, conquest, contract, convince, corral, defeat, derive, drag down, draw, draw over, earn, easy victory, enter into possession, finish in front, fluke, gain, gain over, gain the day, get, grand slam, harvest, have, hook, hook in, knock down, knockout, landslide, landslide victory, lick, make, make a killing, mastery, moral victory, net, obtain, outtalk, overcome, persuade, pick up, picnic, prevail, prevail on, prevail upon, prevail with, procure, produce, pull down, pushover, reach, realize, reap, runaway victory, sack, score, secure, sell, sell one on, skin, subdual, subduing, success, sway, take, take the cake, talk into, talk over, total victory, triumph, trounce, victory, walkaway, walkover, wangle, wangle into, wear down, win out, win over, win the battle, win the laurels, win the palm, win the prize, win through, winning, winning streak, worst, yield