win

verb

\ˈwin

won\ ˈwən

\; winning

Definition of win

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : to get possession of by effort or fortune

b : to obtain by work : earn striving to win a living from the sterile soil

2a : to gain in or as if in battle or contest won the championship

b : to be the victor in won the war

3a : 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

4a : to obtain (something, such as ore, coal, or clay) by mining

b : to prepare (a vein or bed) for regular mining

c : to recover (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

win

noun

Definition of win (Entry 2 of 2)

: victory especially : first place at the finish (as of a horse race)

Other Words from win Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about win

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Examples of win in a Sentence

Verb

The boxer won the match by knockout. He won't give up until he's won the argument. Neither candidate won the debate. We tried our best, but you can't win them all. They played well, but they didn't win. The chances of winning are 1 in 100,000. It's not about winning or losing. It's about having fun. She won a tennis trophy. Her book won the Pulitzer Prize. She won praise for her hard work.

Noun

a pitcher with 15 wins Their win over the first place team was unexpected.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Stevens hauled in two catches on the South's final series for a combined 53 yards, but the North pushed its series winning streak to four straight, prevailing 27-24. — Rich Torress, Indianapolis Star, "North extends winning streak to four in IFCA All-Star game," 13 July 2018 The victory over Goerges extended Williams' winning streak at Wimbledon to 20 matches, dating to the start of the 2015 edition. — Howard Fendrich, Fox News, "Serena Williams nears 8th Wimbledon title, 24th Slam overall," 13 July 2018 All but one of his scores and 18 of his 29 receptions came during Missouri’s six-game winning streak to end the regular season. — Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY, "The 10 best tight ends in college football," 13 July 2018 Germantown junior Joe Seymour talks about his game-winning hit Wednesday in the regional final against Nicolet. — Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "WIAA baseball: Down to his last strike, Joe Seymour delivers for Germantown," 11 July 2018 Matthew Stafford, as the Lions’ quarterback and best player, is obviously key to whether the team will win on any given Sunday. — Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit Lions 2018 Most Important: No. 4 Ziggy Ansah's health is key," 14 July 2018 The combination of credit card customers using their plastic more but still keeping current on their bills is a winning formula for both financial institutions and the economy. — Adam Shell, USA TODAY, "Credit card holders at JPMorgan rush to cash in their rewards points," 13 July 2018 Talackova made it to the shortlist in Canada, but didn’t win entry to the international contest. — NBC News, "Transgender Miss Universe contender speaks up for trans kids," 13 July 2018 The Doubledays ended up losing to the Lowell Spinners, but Drake won the hearts of everyone in the stands. — Caitlin O'kane, CBS News, "3-year-old boy sings national anthem at minor league baseball game, hits it out of the park," 13 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The win was Serena's fifth in six majors, all of which came over Venus. — Julia Poe, SI.com, "A History of Serena Williams' Seven Wimbledon Titles," 12 July 2018 Still, the separatists’ legal win is unlikely to greatly alter the simmering tensions between Madrid and Barcelona, the capital of the wealthy Catalonia region. — Jeannette Neumann, WSJ, "German Court Authorizes Extradition to Spain of Catalonia’s Former Leader," 12 July 2018 Netflix’s win was further proof of its increasing dominance in television. — Meg James, latimes.com, "Netflix nudges past HBO to top Emmy nominations list with 112," 12 July 2018 Women’s wins are the result of 15 years of electoral reforms, in which Mexico incrementally refined the affirmative action rules that compel political parties to nominate women. — Magda Hinojosa, Washington Post, "Women won big in Mexico’s elections — taking nearly half the legislature’s seats. Here’s why.," 11 July 2018 Baker, who served as campaign manager for Bush’s reelection, has argued that the biggest factor in Clinton’s 1992 win was Ross Perot’s surprisingly strong third-party run, where the Texas businessman attracted nearly 20 percent of the vote. — Neil Swidey, BostonGlobe.com, "The backstory on this alternate version of presidential history," 10 July 2018 The win was the Marlins’ second straight, following three humbling losses in Washington over the weekend. — Matthew Defranks, Sun-Sentinel.com, "**Brewers Marlins head**," 10 July 2018 Washington lacks playmakers on offense -- will tight end Jordan Reed be healthy? -- and rebuilt its secondary, so if Indianapolis can keep Luck upright (no easy task in the past), a Week 2 road win is not out of the question. — Nat Newell, Indianapolis Star, "What you need to know about Colts vs. Redskins," 9 July 2018 The win was Hinchcliffe's second at Iowa, the sixth of his career and a big shot of redemption after failing to qualify for this year's Indianapolis 500. — Jim Ayello, USA TODAY, "James Hinchcliffe gets Indy 500 redemption with IndyCar win at Iowa," 8 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'win.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for win

Verb

Middle English winnen "to strive, struggle, obtain by exertion, earn with labor, gain, triumph," going back to Old English winnan "to labor, strive," going back to a Germanic verb base *wenu̯- (whence Old Saxon winnan "to struggle, suffer, acquire," Old High German, "to labor, struggle, rage," Old Norse vinna "to labor, suffer, gain," Gothic winnan "to suffer"); akin to Sanskrit vanoti "(s/he) demands, strives for, obtains," vanate "(s/he) shall obtain," Avestan vanaiti "(s/he) defeats"

Note: According to Rix, et al., Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (Wiesbaden, 1998), Indo-European *u̯en-, the source of these verbs is distinct from *u̯enH-, the source of Sanskrit vanate "(s/he) likes, takes pleasure in," Latin venus "physical desire, qualities exciting desire, charm" (see venus).

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