Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - win

~1 v past tense and past participle won present participle winning 1 »COMPETITION/RACE« to be the best or first in a competition, game, election etc  (Who do you think will win the next election? | win at sth)  (I never win at cards. | win by a mile/10 points etc)  (We won by just one point. | win hands down (=win very easily)) 2 »PRIZE« to get something as a prize for winning in a competition or game  (How does it feel to have won the gold medal? | She won -160 on the lottery.) 3 »GET/ACHIEVE« to get or achieve something that you want because of your efforts or abilities  (Do you think he will win the Republican nomination? | win sb sth)  (Those tactics won't win them any votes. | win sb's approval/trust/love etc)  (Proposals for an out-of-town shopping mall have won the approval of the city council. | win sb's heart (=make them love you)) 4 you win spoken used to agree to what someone wants after you have tried to persuade them to do something else  (OK, you win - we'll go to the movie.) 5 you can't win spoken used to say that there is no satisfactory way of dealing with a particular situation  (You can't win, can you? You either work late and upset Jenny, or go home and risk your job.) 6 you can't win them all spoken used to show sympathy when someone has had a disappointing experience 7 win the day to finally be successful in a discussion or argument; triumph2  (Common sense won the day, and the development plans were dropped.)  (- see also win the toss toss2 (3), winner, winning) win sb round/around phr v to win someone over win sb/sth back phr v to succeed in getting back something or someone that you had before  (How can I win back her trust?) win out phr v to win through win sb over phr v to get someone's support or friendship by persuading them or being nice to them  (We'll be working hard over the next ten days to win over the undecided voters.) win through phr v to eventually succeed in spite of problems  (As in most of his films, it's the good guys who win through in the end.)  ( USAGE NOTE: WIN WORD CHOICE win, beat, defeat You can win a game, race, competition, election etc (NOT gain). After the event you can say I've won! A country can win a battle or war (NOT gain). As a result you can also win a victory, championship, prize, scholarship, or a seat in the Senate. (See also gain WORD CHOICE.) When you win a game etc, you beat the other person or the other team or, more formally, you could say defeat We beat their team by ten points (NOT won). | He beat all his opponents/rivals for the seat. When a country wins a war it defeats its enemies. (Beat can be used informally) The Americans defeated the British in 1781.