win
win [win wins won winning] verb, noun BrE [wɪn] NAmE [wɪn]
verb (win·ning, won, wonBrE [wʌn] ; NAmE [wʌn] )
1. intransitive, transitive to be the most successful in a competition, race, battle, etc
• Which team won?
•~ at sth to win at cards/chess, etc.
•~ against sb/sth France won by six goals to two against Denmark.
•~ sth to win an election/a game/a war, etc.
•She loves to win an argument.
2. transitive to get sth as the result of a competition, race, election, etc
•~ sth Britain won five gold medals.
• He won £3 000 in the lottery.
•How many states did the Republicans win?
•~ sth from sb The Conservatives won the seat from Labour in the last election.
•~ yourself/sb sth You've won yourself a trip to New York.
3. transitive ~ sth to achieve or get sth that you want, especially by your own efforts
• They are trying to win support for their proposals.
• The company has won a contract to supply books and materials to schools.
•She won the admiration of many people in her battle against cancer.
see also ↑no-win, ↑winner, ↑winning, ↑win-win
more at carry/win the day at ↑day, win/earn your spurs at ↑spur n.
Verb forms: 
Word Origin:
Old English winnan ‘strive, contend’ also ‘subdue and take possession of, acquire’, of Germanic origin.
Example Bank:
•Does he have what it takes to win the Tour?
•He duly won, but was then sidelined by a leg injury.
•He entered election day in a strong position to win.
•He has yet to win a major tournament.
•He succeeded in winning their confidence.
•I never win at tennis.
•President Reagan won by a landslide.
•She narrowly won the first race.
•She won the race by 25 seconds.
•The French team won hands down.
•The actress is tipped to win an Oscar for her performance.
•The far right party failed to win a single seat.
•The match was eventually won on penalties.
•The movie was an instant success and went on to win five Academy Awards.
•There are a lot of teams capable of winning the title.
•They stand a good chance of winning against their league rivals.
•We didn't deserve to win— we played very badly.
•We're confident of winning the title this year.
•Who do you think is going to win?
•You have to try and win every race.
•qualities which help win business and motivate staff
•the chance to win the holiday of a lifetime
•He always won at cards.
•He narrowly won the seat for Labour.
•He won a scholarship to study at Stanford.
•Historians still argue about who really won the war of 1812.
•I think I won the argument.
•The National Party won by a landslide.
Idioms: ↑win hands down ▪ ↑win or lose ▪ ↑win somebody's heart ▪ ↑you can't win them all ▪ ↑you win ▪ ↑you win some, you lose some ▪ you/he can't win
Derived: ↑win out ▪ ↑win somebody back ▪ ↑win somebody over
noun
a victory in a game, contest, etc
•two wins and three defeats
• They have not had a win so far this season.
• France swept to a 6–2 win over Denmark.
Word Origin:
Old English winnan ‘strive, contend’ also ‘subdue and take possession of, acquire’, of Germanic origin.
Example Bank:
•His only big win came in the French Open ten years ago.
•Liverpool gained a thrilling 5–4 win over Glenavon.
•People still talk about the famous win against Brazil.
•She was in a no-win situation, taking the blame for things she did not have the power to change.
•The Red Sox opened the season with five straight wins.
•The team claimed a 6–3 away win over Middlethorpe.
•They've gone four games without a win.
•Torino notched up a 2–1 win at Lazio.
•We've had three successive wins in the National League.
•Williams's straight-sets win puts her through to the semi-final.
•Woods romped to a 12-shot win in the Open.
•After this year's election win, they have time on their side.
•They have now gone 10 games without a win.
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