INDEX:
1. to win a race, competition etc
2. to win an argument, fight, war, etc
3. to be winning a game, race etc that has not yet finished
4. to win easily
5. to win when you almost lost
6. when someone wins
7. the person or team that wins
8. to be the person or team that is expected to win
9. something that you get when you win
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ LOSE
to beat someone in a game or competition : ↑ BEAT/DEFEAT
see also
↑ SPORT/GAME
↑ COMPETE WITH
↑ WAR
↑ FIGHT
↑ COMPETITION
↑ AGAINST/OPPOSE
↑ GAMBLING
↑ SUCCEED/SUCCESSFUL
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1. to win a race, competition etc
▷ win /wɪn/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to win a race, competition, election etc, for example by getting more points, votes etc than everyone else or by being the first to finish :
▪ No-one really expected the Socialist Party to win.
win a race/game/election etc
▪ Chang won the first set but lost the next two.
▪ The competition was won by a Nigerian student.
win a prize/medal/cup etc
▪ His book won the Pulitzer Prize for literature.
▪ What would you do if you won $1 million?
win by 6 votes/2 goals etc
win by getting 6 votes etc more than the other person or team
▪ He went ahead of Nolan, winning by 15 seconds.
win 4-2/20-12 etc
use this to show the final result of a game
▪ Do you remember our first game of the season? We won 3-1.
win at cards/chess/tennis etc
▪ She always wins at Scrabble.
▷ finish first/be first/come in first also come first British /ˌfɪnɪʃ ˈfɜːʳst, biː ˈfɜːʳst, ˌkʌm ɪn ˈfɜːʳst, ˌkʌm ˈfɜːʳst/ [verb phrase not in progressive]
to win a race or competition in which more than two people or teams are competing :
▪ Who do you think will finish first?
▪ The British team was first, followed closely by the Americans.
▪ André Etienne came in first, having completed the course in record time.
finish first/be first/come in first in
▪ An Australian runner came first in the marathon.
▪ Sue finished first in two races -- the 50m backstroke and the 100m front crawl.
▷ first place /ˌfɜːʳst ˈpleɪs/ [singular noun]
the position of the person or team that wins a race or competition :
in first place
▪ Johnson finished in first place, narrowly ahead of Green.
win first place in
▪ My greatest achievement was winning first place in the Young Artist competition.
▷ get in /ˌget ˈɪn/ [intransitive phrasal verb not in progressive] British
if a political party gets in, they win an election, and have the right to form a government :
▪ Do you think Labour will get in again at the next election?
2. to win an argument, fight, war, etc
▷ win /wɪn/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to argue, fight etc more successfully than someone else :
▪ The court case has been dragging on for months, and it’s increasingly unlikely that she’ll win.
▪ I could never win an argument with my father.
▪ Who won the first Civil War?
win a victory
▪ This was the first of many victories won by women’s rights campaigners.
▷ come out on top /ˌkʌm aʊt ɒn ˈtɒpǁ-ˈtɑːp/ [verb phrase not in progressive] informal
to win something, especially something that other people are judging or deciding :
▪ In a survey of customer preference, one model came consistently out on top.
▪ In all action movies, the hero always comes out on top.
▷ prevail /prɪˈveɪl/ [intransitive verb] formal
if an idea or way of doing something prevails, it is finally accepted as being better or more important than something else, especially after a lot of arguing :
▪ Fortunately, in this case, common sense has prevailed.
prevail over
▪ She seems to think that animal rights should prevail over everything else.
▷ carry the day /ˌkæri ðə ˈdeɪ/ [verb phrase not in progressive] British
to win by persuading people to accept a plan, proposal, or idea, especially after a lot of talking and arguing :
▪ Anti-gun campaigners feel they have enough support to carry the day in tomorrow’s vote.
▪ His appeal to reason and common sense was what finally carried the day.
▷ win the day /ˌwɪn ðə ˈdeɪ/ [verb phrase not in progressive] British
to finally win an argument or political struggle, especially when this has been difficult - used especially in news reports :
▪ On this occasion the strikers won the day and were given a pay increase of 20%.
3. to be winning a game, race etc that has not yet finished
▷ be winning /biː ˈwɪnɪŋ/ [verb phrase]
to have more points or votes than your opponents in a game or election, or to be at the front in a race when the game, race etc has not yet finished :
▪ Senna was winning when the race was brought to a halt because of a crash.
be winning something
▪ It looked as though Bush was winning the election battle.
▷ lead/be in the lead /liːd, biː ɪn ðə ˈliːd/ [intransitive/transitive verb or verb phrase]
to be winning a game, race, election etc :
▪ The High School team were leading with 60 points.
▪ The Dolphins are still in the lead with only 2 minutes left to play.
lead by 10 points/three meters etc
▪ Agassi was leading by two sets when rain stopped play.
▷ be ahead /biː əˈhed/ [verb phrase]
to be doing better than someone else in a game, competition, race, or election :
▪ She was still ahead in the polls just a week before the election.
be ahead of
▪ Waylan was ahead of Miller by three shots.
put somebody ahead
▪ Shortly afterwards Smith put the Dodgers ahead with a stunning home run.
be 12 points/5 games etc ahead
▪ Damon Hill is now 14 points ahead of his nearest rival.
by way ahead
▪ By the final lap, Molly was way ahead of all the other girls.
be ahead by 12 points/5 games etc
▪ Houston was ahead by 3 points at half-time.
4. to win easily
▷ win easily /ˌwɪn ˈiːzə̇li/ [verb phrase]
▪ Everyone expected the Democrats to win easily.
win something easily
▪ She won the race easily with seconds to spare.
▷ win hands down /wɪn ˌhændz ˈdaʊn/ [verb phrase]
to win very easily without having any problems :
▪ The Socialists will win hands down if the election is free and fair.
▪ The newer model wins hands down when it comes to speed and capacity.
▷ be no contest /biː ˌnəʊ ˈkɒntestǁ-ˈkɑːn-/ [verb phrase]
if a game, competition etc is no contest, one person or team wins so easily that it is impossible for their opponent to win :
▪ In the end it was no contest. New Labour won more votes than even they thought possible.
▷ run away with /ˌrʌn əˈweɪ wɪð/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to win a game or competition very easily, especially because you are much better than your opponents :
▪ United have established a clear lead, and are threatening to run away with the championship.
▷ be a shoo-in /biː ə ˈʃuː ɪn/ [verb phrase] American
to be very likely to easily win an election, competition etc, by having many more points, votes etc than you opponents :
▪ He looked like a shoo-in to win South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary.
▷ sweep to victory /ˌswiːp tə ˈvɪkt ə ri/ [verb phrase]
to win very easily, in a way that impresses people - used especially in news reports :
▪ Olson scored twice as the Rams swept to victory.
▪ Nixon swept to victory by 47 million votes to 29 million.
▷ romp home /ˌrɒmp ˈhəʊmǁˌrɑːmp-/ [verb phrase] British informal
to win a race or game easily :
▪ No goals were scored in the first half but Spurs romped home in the second, scoring four.
5. to win when you almost lost
▷ win by a narrow margin /ˌwɪn baɪ ə ˌnærəʊ ˈmɑːʳdʒə̇n/ [verb phrase]
if someone wins something or is elected by a narrow margin, they win by getting only a few more points, votes etc than their opponent :
▪ We won the debate by a narrow margin.
▪ Winning by a narrow margin, the Lakers now go on to play in the championships.
▷ scrape home /ˌskreɪp ˈhəʊm/ [verb phrase] British
to win by a very small number of votes or points, or by a very small distance in a race :
▪ The Green Party scraped home in the local elections.
▪ The referees decided that Foreman had just scraped home.
▷ be close also be a close-run thing British /biː ˈkləʊs, biː ə ˌkləʊs rʌn ˈθɪŋ/ [verb phrase]
if a race, competition, election etc is close or is a close-run thing, any person or party could win because they all have nearly the same number of points, votes etc, or are close to each other in the race :
▪ The election was very close - a handful of votes decided it.
▪ The champions have kept their title, but it was a close-run thing.
6. when someone wins
▷ victory /ˈvɪkt ə ri/ [countable/uncountable noun]
when a country, player, team etc wins a battle, game, race etc :
▪ The crowds were celebrating Italy’s victory.
▪ We’re very confident of victory.
▪ victory celebrations
victory over/against
▪ Their 2-1 victory over the Australians was completely unexpected.
win a victory
▪ He had won a comfortable victory in the general election.
▷ win /wɪn/ [countable noun]
when a team or player wins in a sport or competition - used especially in news reports :
▪ It was an important win for Manchester United.
▪ A couple from London are celebrating a big lottery win.
win over/against
▪ a 2-0 win over their oldest rivals
▷ triumph /ˈtraɪəmf/ [countable/uncountable noun] written
an important victory after a long, difficult struggle, especially in war or politics :
▪ Despite many local triumphs, their party stands little chance of winning a national election.
▪ Arsenal’s recent League Cup triumph.
▷ success /səkˈses/ [countable/uncountable noun]
a victory, especially in a series of games, fights etc :
▪ With such a strong team, France are heading for certain success.
▪ their fourth success in a row
▷ conquest /ˈkɒŋkwestǁˈkɑːŋ-/ [countable/uncountable noun]
a victory in which one country wins a war against another country and takes control of it :
▪ The palace was built in Cordoba, Spain, following the Arab conquest.
▪ The Roman legions left, opening the way for the conquest of the British Isles by the Germanic tribes.
▷ walkover /ˈwɔːkˌəʊvəʳ/ [singular noun] informal
a situation in which someone wins very easily, especially in a sport, because they are much better than the people they are playing against :
▪ If they were expecting this game to be a walkover, they were very wrong.
▷ landslide /ˈlændslaɪd/ [singular noun]
when one party or candidate gets far more votes than their opponents in an election :
▪ The newspapers were predicting a landslide for Thatcher.
by a landslide
▪ He was re-elected in 1984 by a landslide.
landslide victory
▪ Few people had expected Labour’s landslide victory in 1945.
7. the person or team that wins
▷ winner /ˈwɪnəʳ/ [countable noun]
▪ The winner will receive a prize of $500.
▪ The crowd roared as the winner crossed the finishing line.
winner of
▪ On Thursday the judges will be announcing the winner of this year’s Booker Prize.
▷ champion /ˈtʃæmpiən/ [countable noun]
a person who has won a competition, especially in sport :
▪ Mohammed Ali, the former world heavyweight boxing champion, will appear on the ‘Tonight’ show next week.
defending champion
the person who won last time and is trying to win again
▪ As defending champion, he is expected to reach the final.
reigning champion
the present champion who won the competition last time
▪ Bjorn Borg was the reigning Wimbledon champion for five years.
▷ winning /ˈwɪnɪŋ/ [adjective only before noun]
winning team/player/horse etc
the team, player etc that wins :
▪ The winning team will go through to the grand final in London.
▪ A group of reporters followed the winning jockey and horse into the winner’s enclosure.
▷ victor /ˈvɪktəʳ/ [countable noun] written
the winner in a war, election, or important sporting event :
▪ After the war, the victors returned in triumph.
▪ The victors are waving to the crowd as they do their lap of honour.
▷ victorious /vɪkˈtɔːriəs/ [adjective]
having won an important fight, competition, election, etc :
▪ He shook hands with his victorious opponent.
▪ Three young men from the victorious team came forward to collect their trophy.
8. to be the person or team that is expected to win
▷ be (the) favourite British /be the favorite American /biː (ðə) ˈfeɪv ə rə̇t/ [verb phrase]
to be the person or team that everyone expects to win :
be (the) favourite for
▪ The Danish runner was the favorite for the 100m sprint.
be (the) favourite to win
▪ Thatcher was favourite to win the 1983 election.
be (the) clear favourite
▪ The Luxembourg entry is clear favourite to win the Eurovision Song Contest.
▷ frontrunner /ˌfrʌntˈrʌnəʳ/ [countable noun]
the person or team that is most likely to win a race, election, or competition :
▪ He will certainly be a frontrunner in the Democratic primaries.
▪ The Greens have never really been among the frontrunners in British politics.
▷ be in the running /biː ɪn ðə ˈrʌnɪŋ/ [verb phrase]
to be one of the people who has a good chance of winning :
▪ Spain still has several athletes in the running.
be in the running for
▪ Anthony Hopkins was in the running for an Oscar.
9. something that you get when you win
▷ prize /praɪz/ [countable noun]
something that is given to the person who wins a competition, game, or race :
▪ The prize is a 3-week holiday in the Bahamas.
first/second/third etc prize
▪ Second prize is a book token.
win/get a prize
▪ She won the Booker Prize for her novel ‘The Blind Assassin’.
prize winner
▪ A list of prize winners will appear in net week’s issue.
▷ cup /kʌp/ [countable noun]
a special silver or gold container, shaped like a large cup with two handles, that is given to the winner of a sports competition :
▪ The Queen presented the cup to the captain of the winning team.
▷ medal /ˈmedl/ [countable noun]
a round flat piece of metal that is given to someone who has won a race, game, or competition :
▪ The winning team went up to collect their medals
gold/silver/bronze medal
a medal for coming first/second/third
▪ The gold medal was won by Anna Svensen.
▷ trophy /ˈtrəʊfi/ [countable noun]
an object or special cup that is given to the winner of a race, game, or competition, especially in sports :
▪ The winner went to receive her trophy.
▪ They became the first British team to win a major European trophy.
▷ jackpot /ˈdʒækpɒtǁ-pɑːt/ [singular noun]
the largest amount of money that can be won in a game of chance :
▪ The jackpot is worth $1 million this week.
hit the jackpot
win it
▪ Unemployed roadsweeper Mickey Reid hit the jackpot when his £4 Lotto ticket won him £1.8m.
▷ winnings /ˈwɪnɪŋz/ [plural noun]
money that you win by playing games for money :
▪ She collected her winnings and put them into her bag.
▪ Scooping up his winnings, he went off to invest them at the blackjack table.