win

Less common meanings

5. 5
   verbnonstandardtransitive

   To defeat or get the better of an opponent.

   She easily won the reigning champion in straight sets.

   No one expected the rookie to win the seasoned veteran.

   UsageStandard English says beat: she beat the champion.

   Similarbeat, defeat

6. 6
   override (rules)verbcolloquialintransitive

   To prevail or take priority when wishes, rules, or options conflict.

   When configuration files conflict, the user's settings win.

   Whenever the team's plans clashed with the client's wishes, the client's wishes won.

   UsageName the loser with over: user settings win over defaults.

   Similarprevail

   Oppositelose

   Note

   Programmers' shorthand for precedence: when two rules or settings conflict, the one that applies is said to win.

7. 7
   reach (goal)verbliterarytransitive or intransitive

   To reach a destination or objective despite difficulty or hard toil.

   I well may gang out, love, but I'll never win home.

   c. 17th century, unknown author, The Baron of Brackley (traditional folk song)

   And when the stony path began, By which the naked peak they won, Up flew the snowy ptarmigan.

   1808, Walter Scott, Marmion

   UsageUsually with a direction word: win home, win free, win through to the village.

   Similarreach, gain, attain

   Note

   The toil in the word's root still shows here, because what is won is reached only with effort. Jack London's The Iron Heel (1908) has "win to California," and the Scottish ballad The Baron of Brackley has "I'll never win in." A bare "won the ridge" follows the older, transitive pattern. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • The root of win carried the idea of toil or exertion. en.wikisource.org
   • Jack London wrote The Iron Heel, first published in 1908. archive.org
   • The Iron Heel contains the exact phrase win to California. gutenberg.org
   • The Scottish ballad The Baron of Brackley contains I'll never win in. gutenberg.org
   • Older usage could make the destination the direct object of win. gutenberg.org
8. 8
   nounobsolete

   Profit, gain, or earned income.

   Note

   The money side of Old English winn, a word for toil, strife and gain, not to be confused with the "victory" noun: profit was what labor earned. The sense is long gone, so a reader meeting it in an old text should not assume a contest. A trader's win from a voyage is his takings, and the closest living word is gain. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The financial noun win descends from Old English winn through Middle English. en.wiktionary.org
   • Old English winn had meanings covering toil, strife and financial gain. upload.wikimedia.org
   • The financial meaning is distinct from the victory meaning, so an occurrence need not concern a contest. en.wiktionary.org
   • The historical financial meaning covers income or earnings, supporting the illustrative trader example and the gloss gain. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   nounobsolete

   Wealth, or the goods a person owns.

   Note

   An obsolete noun with a hard-working history: Old English winn meant toil and hardship before it meant profit, so wealth here is what labor has gathered. It sits close to the "gain, profit" noun, which names income as it comes in. This one names what has been kept. It now turns up only in older writing, where it means possessions, not a victory. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Old English winn meant toil, hardship, profit, and gain. gutenberg.org
   • A related obsolete noun sense means gain, profit, or income. en.wiktionary.org
   • The wealth sense denotes possessions. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    verb

    To extract ore, coal, or similar materials from the earth.
11. 11
    noundialectalScotland

    A state of pleasure, joy, or delight.
12. 12
    verbdialectalScotland

    To dry something by exposing it to the wind.