Forms: see WIN v.1 [f. WIN v.1 + -ING1.] The action of WIN v.1; concr. something won.
1. Conquest, capture, taking (of a place); also, in early use, conquered territory (= CONQUEST sb. 4). Obs. or arch.
c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 928. Rohand he left king Ouer al his wining þare.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 296. Þritti reames men tolde, þat kyng Arthur wan. He parted his wynnyng tille his men largely.
1419. in Documents Français (1847), I. 227. Thei have wonne the forsaid toun by assaulte … thorought the whiche wynninge my forsaid lord hath passage to Parys.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, X. 577. Thow was gret caus off wynnyng off Scotland.
1577. Holinshed, Chron., I. 34/2. Caius Iulius Cesar … determined to assay ye winning of Britain.
1622. Peacham, Compl. Gent., xv. (1906), 184. Knighted at the winning of Edenburgh in Scotland.
a. 1660. Contemp. Hist. Irel. (Ir. Archæol. Soc.), I. 280. This noble warrior was soe eager for the wininge of that place.
1871. Freeman, Norm. Conq., IV. xvii. 80. While the land which sent forth such goodly stores was in winning.
2. The action of gaining, getting or obtaining; acquisition; † gain (in general, as opp. to loss); victory in a game or contest.
With various shades of meaning, in later use restricted as in the vb.
c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 3006. In wining and in tin Trewe to ben ay.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 94. Of his leosinge I lauhwe … Ac for his wynnynge I wepe.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, I. 199. Swych labour as folk han yn wynnynge Of loue.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., III. xviii. 403. Bi biyng or bi wynnyng in waiouring or bi sum other fre maner of geting.
1508. Dunbar, Flyting, 19. It is nowthir wynning nor rewaird, Bot tinsale [etc.].
1549. Coverdale, etc., Erasm. Par. James i. 1–12. To counte losse of goodes, for the richeste wynnynge.
1610. Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 451. Least too light winning Make the prize light. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., I. iii. 8. Winning will put any man into courage.
1616. Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 183. Your Honour may guess that winning of time is their chiefest aim.
1630. J. Taylor (Water P.), Gt. Eater Kent, Wks. I. 145/2. The vnexpected winning of the wager.
1667. [see WINNER 2].
1813. Scott, Rokeby, III. xxx. Allen-a-Dale has no fleece for the spinning, Yet Allen-a-Dale has red gold for the winning.
1860. Löwenthal, Morphy’s Games Chess, 140. Ensuring the advance of the Queen’s Pawn, which is almost equivalent to the winning of the game.
1885–94. Bridges, Eros & Psyche, Dec. ix. And in one winning all her woes redeem.
† b. Getting of money or wealth; gain, profit; money-making. Obs. as a specific sense.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 25803. Man þou has ben to couetus Abote werlds wining fuus.
c. 1382. Pol. Poems (Rolls), I. 252. Mony for wynnyng wold bitraye Father and moder.
a. 1450. Myrc, Par. Pr. (1868), 22/705. Vsureres that by cause of wynnyng lene her catall to her eine cristen.
c. 1480. Henryson, Want of Wyse Men, 22 (Bannatyne MS.). For warldly wonyng sic walkis, quhen wysar winkis.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546), N vij. Of the vnlawful winnyng of the fathers, there folowethe the iuste loss to theyr children.
1536. Bellenden, Cron. Scot. (1821), I. p. xxiv. To thair gret proffet and winning.
c. 1730. Ramsay, Maltman, iii. He may crack of his winning, When he clears scores with me.
c. Getting by labor, earning. Obs. exc. dial.
c. 1400. Rule St. Benet (verse), 2058. If ony woman can oght do Þat ony wining falles vnto.
1545. in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot., 1546, 757/2. Concerning the wynning of thair leving.
† d. Profit (in general), advantage. Obs.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xl. (Ninian), 1151. Quhat wynnyng had ȝe, Þo ȝe had mycht to sla me?
1477. Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 6 b. Yf ye do so all your lyf, it shalbe to you a grete prouffitable wynnyng.
a. 1578. Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 37. Regairding our awin prevat wining mair nor the weillfair of the realme.
3. concr. That which is won; a thing or amount obtained or gained; gain, profit (as acquired); † in early use occas. spoil, booty; emolument, earnings. Now rare or Obs. exc. as in 4.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 968. O þi winning giue me þe tend.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 8393. Whar ȝe schul win wining, Ȝe nold it ȝeue for no þing!
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 275. Hise resons he spak ful solempnely Sownynge alway thencrees of his wynnyng.
c. 1400. 26 Pol. Poems, xix. 77. Þy wrong wynnyng aȝen restore.
14[?]. Sc. Acts Parlt. (1814), I. 736/2. And þat of all his wynnying … he sal nocht halde bot .ij. d.
c. 1450. Merlin, xiv. 224. Ther was founde grete wynnynge; and the kynge made it to be … presented to the sowdiours.
1488. Burgh Rec. Edinb. (1869), I. 55. And thai to dele thairvpoun vyning and tynsell.
1509. Barclay, Shyp of Folys (1874), II. 83. Eche of them askyth Lucre and wynnynge.
1546. J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 34. I might put my winnyng in mine eye.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 321/2. Brauium,… the price or winning giuen to one that ouercommeth in plaies and games.
1860. Pusey, Min. Proph., 281. ‘Keep the winning, keep the sinning.’ The fruits of sin are temporal gain, eternal loss. We cannot keep the gain and escape the loss.
4. pl.: usually concr., as pl. of 3 (mostly in collective sense), Things or sums gained, gains, profits; earnings (obs. or dial.); in mod. use chiefly applied to money won by gaming or betting; more rarely in abstract sense, as pl. of 2, Acts of gaining, gains as opp. to losses.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., I. 11. Defaute in al þis comiþ of ypocrisye of prelatis, þat shulden teche pleynly Goddis lawe and not þer erþly wynnynges.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., III. xvii. 391. Tithis going out fro her wynnyngis.
1557. Tusser, 100 Points Husb., xiii. But chopping and chaungeing, may make such a breck, That gone is thy winninges, for sauing thy neck.
1616. T. Draxe, Bibl. Scholast., 78. Hee may put his winnings into his eye, and see neuer the worse.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., Ded. ¶ 2 b. One loss may be of more consequence to him, than all his former winnings.
1716. Addison, Freeholder, No. 40, ¶ 3. A Buttering-Gamester, that stakes all his Winnings upon every Cast.
1725. J. Glanvill, Poems, 63. When hapless France shall meet with no Repair From Losings here, by healing Winnings there.
1838. Dickens, O. Twist, xxxix. Mr. Toby Crackit swept up his winnings [at cribbage], and crammed them into his waistcoat pocket.
1885. Law Rep., Weekly Notes 145/2. The defendant … having won on those bets received the winnings from the persons with whom he had betted.
5. spec. Getting, gathering, taking (of produce, fish, coal, stone, etc.); also, in Mining, the process of excavation and other preparation for working a bed of coal or other mineral: see WIN v.1 7 f, g.
1473. Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879), I. 192. To mak ma tenandis for wenyng and laboryng of the ground.
1501. Reg. Privy Seal Scot., I. 100/1. To sustene ony skaith in the wynnyng of the saidis fischingis.
1506. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., III. 87. To Andro Matheson, to the colheuch wynnyng in Faukland v li.
1553–4. Burgh Rec. Edin. (1871), II. 286. To Denne Morisoun for wynnyng of thre lintellis to the saids yeittis.
1630. Burgh Rec. Glasgow (1876), 374. For the wyning and leiding of certane stonis for mending of the commoun loche.
c. 1790. Encycl. Brit. (1797), V. 99/1. Where a level can be drove … to drain a sufficient tract of coal, it is then the most eligible method of winning.
1825. E. Mackenzie, View Northumbld. (ed. 2), I. 87. The winning of a colliery is the draining of a field of coal, so as to render the several seams accessible.
1881. Nature, 27 Jan., 308. Deep winning of coal in South Wales.
1891. Times, 10 Oct., 12/4. The winning of oats in the northern parts of England and Scotland.
b. concr. (Mining.) A shaft or pit together with the associated apparatus for ‘winning’ the coal or other mineral; a portion of a coal-field or mine laid out for working.
1708. J. C., Compl. Collier (1845), 42. How much to allow for a Winning.
1768. Ann. Reg., Chron., 62. The vast quantity of water expected in this new winning.
1865. Pall Mall Gaz., 26 Sept., 7/2. The construction of new winnings, the colliery population, and the production of coal have considerably augmented.
6. Gaining of a person’s affection or allegiance; gaining of an adherent or convert; also with over.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxxiii. (George), 864. For of a martyre þe pynynge Of a thousand wes wynnynge.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 93. Þei loue more here owen worldly wynnynge … þan wynnynge of soulis to blisse.
a. 1586. Sidney, Apol. Poetrie (Arb.), 40. The winning of the mind from wickednesse to vertue.
1605. Bacon, Adv. Learn., I. iv. § 2. The great labour that then was with the people … for the winning and perswading of them.
1643. Milton, Divorce, viii. Wks. 1851, IV. 47. The uncertain winning of an obdur’d heretick.
1899. Heddle, Marget at Manse, 91. I had forgotten all about Andrew and his proposed winning-over.
1918. Nation (N. Y.), 7 Feb., 134/1. All the sordid details that counted in the winning over of Italy.
† 7. Deliverance, redemption: cf. WIN v.1 8. Obs.
c. 1400. 26 Pol. Poems, xxiv. 281. In helle is no wynnyng, Ne non aȝeynbyynge to pes.
8. The action of making one’s way or getting somewhere. Sc. and dial.
1651. Sir A. Johnston, Diary (S.H.S.), II. 89. [It] might prevent … his wining to my wyfe.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xiii. Ye’ll find it’s easier wunnin in than wunnin out here.
9. attrib. Pertaining to or connected with winning, or at which something is won (sometimes practically coincident with WINNING ppl. a. 2, q.v.): winning-chair, the umpire’s seat at the goal of a race-course (cf. winning-post); winning-gallery (Tennis), the last gallery on the hazard-side of a tennis court; winning headway (Coal-mining), see quots., and cf. sense 5 and WIN v.1 7 g; so winning mine, pit; winning opening (Tennis), see quots.; winning-post, a post set up at the goal of a race-course, the racer who first passes it being the winner.
1856. ‘Stonehenge,’ Brit. Sports, II. I. x. § 4. 358/1. They will not leave their horses when called upon, in order to pass the *winning-chair first.
1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, iv. His horse … came down heavily into the ditch of the *winning field.
1878. *Winning-gallery [see GALLERY sb. 9].
1891. [see HAZARD sb. 6].
c. 1790. Encycl. Brit. (1797), V. 101/1. The first working or excavation made from the coal-pit, commonly called the winning mine or *winning headway.
1846. Brockett, N. C. Gloss. (ed. 3), Winning head-ways, two parallel excavations…. The principal exploring drifts of a colliery, for opening out the seams for the daily supply.
1878. J. Marshall, Ann. Tennis, 160. *Winning-openings, the dedans, winning-gallery, and grille. Ibid., 163 (Laws § 20). Either player wins a chase if he serve or return the ball so that it enter a winning opening.
1895. Daily Tel., 12 Nov., 6/7. An explosion occurred in the low main seam of the A *winning pit of the Blackwell Colliery Company.
1820. Combe, Syntax, XX. 164. In learned labours some proceed, But I prefer the racing steed:… Others some pow’rful station boast; But let me gain the *winning-post.
1824. Scott, St. Ronan’s, x. The best horse ever started may slip a shoulder before he get to the winning-post.
1886. C. E. Pascoe, London of To-day, xviii. (ed. 3), 170. The starting-point at Putney Bridge,… the winning-post at Mortlake.
