win
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /wɪn/
rhymes: -ɪn
homophone: wynn
homophone: Nguyen
homophone: winne
homophone: when (with both the wine–whine merger and pin–pen merger)
Forms: form: wins
form: winning
form: won
form: wan
form: won
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: win
form: win
form: won
form: win
form: winnest
form: won
form: wonnest
form: wins
form: winneth
form: won
form: win
form: won
form: win
form: won
form: win
form: -
form: winning
form: won
Etymology: From Middle English winnen, from Old English winnan (“to labour, swink, toil,”) (compare Old English ġewinnan (“conquer, obtain, gain; endure, bear, suffer; be ill”)), from Proto-West Germanic *winnan, from Proto-Germanic *winnaną (“to swink, labour, win, gain, fight”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive, wish, desire, love”).
Cognate with Low German winnen, Dutch winnen, German gewinnen, Danish vinde, Norwegian Bokmål vinne, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish vinna.
Senses: examples: text: For and we doo bataille we two wyl fyghte with one knyȝt at ones
 and therfore yf ye wille fyghte ſoo we wille be redy at what houre ye wille aſſigne
 And yf ye wynne vs in bataille the lady ſhal haue her landes ageyne
 ye ſay wel ſayd ſir Vwayne
 therfor make yow redy ſo that ye be here to morne in the defence of the ladyes ryght
ref: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book IV:
text: For the glory, the power to win the Black Lord, I will search for the Emerald Sword.
ref: 1998, Rhapsody, Emerald Sword:
glosses: To conquer, defeat.
examples: text: I well may gang out, love, but I'll never win home.
ref: c. 17th century, unknown author, The Baron of Brackley (traditional folk song)
text: No sooner did I get my freedom than my footsteps began to be dogged by the spies of the Iron Heel. It was necessary that they should be thrown off the track, and that I should win to California.
ref: 1908, Jack London, The Iron Heel:
text: As this position was vulnerable, a trench was immediately begun from the junction of the Green Line with Lager Alley, back to the old British front line, in order to form a defensive flank for the protection of the troops of the 5th Infantry Brigade who had won through to their objective.
ref: 1922, Everard Wyrall, The History of the Second Division 1914-1918:
text: Parson Brooke was transferred in a couple of years to the Southwark mint, on dissolution of which he won back to the Tower, there to experiment with machinery in Mary's reign.
ref: 1953, John Craig, The Mint: A History of the London Mint from A.D. 287 to 1948:
text: That euen in the Porch he him did win,
 And cleft his head aſunder to his chin
ref: 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 23:
text: And when the stony path began,
 By which the naked peak they won,
 Up flew the snowy ptarmigan.
ref: 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “(please specify the introduction or canto number, or chapter name)”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC:
text: “Has he nae friends?” said she, in a tearful voice.
“That has he so!” cried Alan, “if we could but win to them!—friends and rich friends, beds to lie in, food to eat, doctors to see to him—and here he must tramp in the dubs and sleep in the heather like a beggarman.”
ref: 1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC:
glosses: To reach some destination or object, despite difficulty or toil (now usually intransitive, with preposition or locative adverb).
glosses: To triumph or achieve victory in (a game, a war, etc.).
examples: text: to win the jackpot in a lottery;  to win a bottle of wine in a raffle
glosses: To gain (a prize) by succeeding in competition or contest.
examples: text: Thy virtue won me; with virtue preserve me.
ref: a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:
english: The New Arcadia
translation: The New Arcadia
text: She is a woman; therefore to be won.
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
text: Mr. Weston seems an excellent creature—quite a first-rate favourite with me already, I assure you. And she appears so truly good—there is something so motherly and kind-hearted about her, that it wins upon one directly.
ref: 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume II, chapter 14:
glosses: To obtain (someone) by wooing; to make an ally or friend of (frequently with over).
examples: text: Who would win in a fight between an octopus and a dolphin?
glosses: To achieve victory.
examples: text: Ever since the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Bostonians now run as "One Boston." The terrorists did not win.
glosses: To have power, coercion or control.
examples: text: The company hopes to win an order from the government worth over 5 million dollars.
glosses: To obtain (something desired).
examples: text: The success of the economic policies should win Mr. Smith the next elections.
text: The policy success should win the elections for Mr. Smith.
glosses: To cause a victory for someone.
topics: business
mining
glosses: To extract (ore, coal, etc.).
glosses: To defeat or surpass someone or something.
examples: text: If the local filters conflict with the global filters, the global filters always win.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To take priority.
Synonyms: word: achieve
word: bring home the bacon
word: deserve
word: earn
word: hit the jackpot
word: indebt
word: score
word: triumph
word: victory
word: walk off with
Derived terms: bewin
faint heart never won fair lady
hard-won
money won is twice as sweet as money earned
must-win
nearly never won the race
not win for losing
overwin
pay to win
play to win
the terrorists will have won
what wins on Sunday sells on Monday
win around
win back
win big
win by a nose
win friends
winner
winning
winnings
win one for the Gipper
win one's spurs
win or lose
win out
win over
win round
win someone's heart
win the day
win the internet
win the lottery
win through
win up
you can't win them all
you have to be in it to win it
you've got to be in it to win it