I. ˈwin verb
( won ˈwən ; won ; winning ; wins )
Etymology: Middle English winnen, from Old English winnan to struggle, fight, toil; akin to Old High German winnan to struggle, fight, Old Norse vinna to work, avail, conquer, win, Gothic winnan to suffer, Latin vener-, venus love, sexual desire, venerari to venerate, Sanskrit vanati, vanoti he desires, loves, Hittite u̯en-, u̯ent- to copulate; basic meaning: to strive
intransitive verb
1. : to gain the victory in a contest : overcome an opponent : prevail , succeed
struck for higher wages and won — American Guide Series: New York
— often used with out as an intensive
in most mature adults these counterforces of course win out — Fredric Wertham
2.
a. : to succeed especially by effort in arriving at a place or a state : succeed in getting : get
beasts that had won to the high ground — J.R.Fethney
making a great effort … he might win back to cool sanity — Hearst's
the production won through finally owing to the sincerity of the two leading actors — T.C.Worsley
b. chiefly Scotland : to work up the ability : manage , contrive
3.
a. archaic : to obtain an advantage : be in a superior position : be master or conqueror — used with upon, on, or of
have seen … the firm soil win of the watery main — Shakespeare
b. : to gain favor or influence — used with upon or on
wins upon me hourly — S.T.Coleridge
transitive verb
1. : to get possession of by or as if by effort : gain , obtain , secure
made as many as 300 tenement-house calls a week and won an intimate knowledge of the poor man — Jerome Ellison
won master's degrees in education and philosophy — Newsweek
winning his way up — Charles Dickens
regiments which won fame — H.L.Merillat
won the support of influential friends — C.G.Woodson
2.
a. : to conquer in or as if in battle and take into possession
the individual foot soldier who alone is able to win and hold ground — D.W.Mitchell
the refinery goes up on land won from the desert and the sea — Geoffrey Godsell
b. obsolete : to defeat (a person) in a fight : beat
c. : to be the victor in
just as we won the war, so we can win the peace — Helen Douglas
sought means to win the election — W.C.Ford
3. : to obtain in return for work : earn
the several ways in which men have won their livelihood — W.G.V.Balchin & Norman Pye
4.
a. : to gain in or as if in competition
wins a prize
won a senate seat — Carol L. Thompson
won several battle stars … and a commendation ribbon — Current Biography
won his point easily
b. obsolete : to gain (as time or space) so as to have an advantage
your way is shorter … you'll win two days upon me — Shakespeare
c. : to take (a trick) in a card game
5.
a. : to influence so as to gain the favor of : make friendly or favorable to oneself or to one's cause
a mellow charm that wins the listener in unassuming ways — Harold Rogers
won the hearts of his military staff — F.L.Paxson
makes the neutral reader wonder whether it is aimed to win him for the communist or the fascist state — C.D.Lewis
win back to active church membership many who had lost contact — E.C.Helmreich
— often used with over
resort to argument in order to win him over to our way of thinking — A.J.Ayer
specifically : to induce (another) to accept oneself in marriage
his deformity prevents him from winning the woman he loves — F.E.Coenen
b. archaic : persuade , entice
the man whom music wins to stay nigh — Alexander Pope
6.
a. chiefly dialect : harvest , gather
b.
(1) : to obtain (as ore, coal, clay) from a mine or pit
(2) : to prepare (as a vein or bed) for regular mining especially by making shafts, gangways, and levels
(3) : to recover (as metal) from ore
7. : to reach especially by effort
were worsted in the field, but many lived to win the great cave — H.R.Haggard
Synonyms: see get
II. noun
( -s )
1. : an act or instance of winning especially in a game or contest : victory
had all their wins in cycling and swimming — News from New Zealand
specifically : first place at the finish of a horse race — compare place , show
2. : something that is won (as in a game or contest) : gain , profit , take , winning
III. intransitive verb
( winned ; winned ; winning ; wins )
Etymology: Middle English winen; akin to Old English wunian to reside, live — more at wont
dialect Britain : reside , live
IV. transitive verb
Etymology: probably from win (I)
dialect Britain : to dry (as hay) by exposure to the air or heat