/ˈwʌn/; win·ning 1 a : to achieve victory in a fight, contest, game, etc. [+ obj] ▪ The boxer won the match by knockout. ▪ They won the battle/war. ▪ She won the election. ▪ 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. [no obj] ▪ 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. ▪ Okay, you win. [=I agree to do what you want] We'll go to the movies.
b [+ obj] : to get (something, such as a prize) by achieving victory in a fight, contest, game, etc.
▪ She won a tennis trophy. ▪ Her book won the Pulitzer Prize. 2 [+ obj] : to get (something) by effort
▪ She won praise for her hard work. ▪ His perseverance won him the job of his dreams. [=he got the job of his dreams because of his perseverance] 3 [+ obj] : to persuade (someone) to like you or to choose you
▪ She won the voters with her warm sense of humor. ▪ He broke up with his girlfriend but he's determined to win her back. [=to get her back; to persuade her to be his girlfriend again] ▪ He'll do anything to win her heart. [=to get her to fall in love with him]
b [+ obj] : to get (something, such as a prize) by achieving victory in a fight, contest, game, etc.
▪ She won a tennis trophy. ▪ Her book won the Pulitzer Prize.
▪ She won praise for her hard work. ▪ His perseverance won him the job of his dreams. [=he got the job of his dreams because of his perseverance]
▪ She won the voters with her warm sense of humor. ▪ He broke up with his girlfriend but he's determined to win her back. [=to get her back; to persuade her to be his girlfriend again] ▪ He'll do anything to win her heart. [=to get her to fall in love with him]
can't win
informal — used to say that success is not possible for someone in a particular situation ▪ I feel like I can't win. Nothing I do seems to make any difference. ▪ You can't win when you're dealing with someone so unreasonable.
win or lose
: whether you succeed or fail
▪ Win or lose, we'll give it our best effort.
▪ Win or lose, we'll give it our best effort.
win out also Brit win through [phrasal verb]
: to achieve victory or success after dealing with many difficulties
▪ It was a challenge, but we won out in the end.
▪ It was a challenge, but we won out in the end.
win over [phrasal verb]
win (someone) over : to persuade (someone) to accept and support something (such as an idea) after opposing it
▪ They eventually won him over with some persuasive arguments.
▪ They eventually won him over with some persuasive arguments.




