winning

Pluralwinnings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of win.

   The defending champions are winning again this season.

   Winning isn't everything, but it certainly lifts the whole team's morale.

   Note

   The -ing form has two jobs. After be it builds the progressive (the horse was winning the race), and as a gerund it names the activity itself (winning isn't everything). It carries every use of win: winning someone over is gaining their favor or friendship, and winning through, with a preposition or locative adverb, is reaching a goal despite difficulty. The doubled n follows the usual rule for a short vowel before -ing.

2. 2
   adjective

   Producing or constituting the victory in a game, match, or contest.

   The winning run crossed the plate in the ninth inning.

   A late penalty gave them the winning margin.

   Similardeciding, decisive, victorious

   Oppositelosing

3. 3
   adjective

   Charming or attractive in a way that wins people's affection or approval.

   The candidate's winning personality drew large crowds.

   There was something winning about her easy laughter.

   Similarcharming, engaging, endearing, appealing, winsome

   Oppositeunappealing, off-putting, repellent

   Note

   Charm pictured as a small victory: a winning smile is one that wins people over. Unlike the "victorious" adjective, which a result either is or is not, this meaning is gradable, as in a more winning manner or the most winning smile in the room. The single-word forms winninger and winningest also exist alongside more winning and most winning.

4. 4
   adjective

   Tending to lead to success or favorable results.

   Her winning formula combined low prices with fast service.

   Investors looked for a winning approach in a crowded market.

   Similarsuccessful, effective

   Oppositelosing, unsuccessful

5. 5
   nounplural

   The money or prizes gained through success in a competition or contest, especially in gambling.

   The gambler counted his winnings at the end of the night.

   Lottery winnings above a certain amount are taxed as income.

   Similartakings, gains, prize, proceeds, earnings

   Oppositelosses

   Note

   Gains are counted in the plural here, so you collect your winnings and say the winnings are taxed. The usage is old. Chaucer's "The Man of Lawes Tale" already has "Ye seeke land and sea for your winnings," and there the gains come from trade and travel, not a bet. The gambling flavor is a narrowing of that wider sense of profit.

6. 6
   noununcountable

   The act of obtaining something through success in a contest or competition.

   The winning of public trust requires consistency over many years.

   His sole focus was the winning of the new contract.

   Similargaining, attainment

   Oppositeloss

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A new opening, as in a mine or a commercial operation.

   Engineers surveyed the winning before sending crews down.

   The company's latest winning promised a rich coal seam.

   Similaropening

   Note

   Mining and business use it as a countable noun, so a pit can show off a new winning. In "Notes and News: Duke of Wellington's Early Railway Journey" (1948), the Duke travels to North Pittington Colliery to view "the new winning." He then inspects the pumping and drawing engines and watches pitmen go up and down the shaft. The fresh opening ranks among the colliery's sights.

8. 8
   nouncountable

   The portion of a coalfield laid out and made available for working.

   The company leased a winning on the field's western edge.

   Each winning was worked until the coal ran out.

   Note

   Where the mining "new opening" is the way in, this meaning names the ground it gives access to: the stretch of coalfield laid out for working. The two are easy to confuse in mining prose. To tell them apart, ask whether the word names a passage cut into the earth or an area of coal waiting to be worked.

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