Definition

1. Verb:
   • To gain someone's support, agreement, or favor, often by persuasion or argument. It involves overcoming initial resistance or skepticism to bring someone to your side or to your way of thinking.

Usage

• The verb "win over" is a phrasal verb. It is transitive and separable. The object (the person being persuaded) can come between "win" and "over" or after the entire phrase.
• It is used to describe the process of persuading someone who is initially opposed, indifferent, or unconvinced.
• Common structures: "win [someone] over" or "win over [someone]".

Examples

• Verb:
  • She was against the idea at first, but we managed to win her over with a detailed presentation.
  • The candidate's sincere speech won over many undecided voters.
  • It took a long time to win over the trust of the local community.

Advanced Usage

• "to win someone over to something": To persuade someone to support a specific cause, idea, or plan.
  • He worked hard to win the committee over to his proposal for the new park.

Variants and Related Words

• Win (verb): To achieve victory. While "win" can mean to be victorious in a contest, "win over" specifically refers to gaining a person's favor or agreement.
• Convince (verb): To cause someone to believe firmly in the truth of something. This is a close synonym but does not inherently imply an initial state of opposition.

Synonyms

• Persuade: To cause someone to do something through reasoning or argument.
• Convert: To change someone's beliefs or opinions, often in a significant way.
• Bring around: To persuade someone to agree with you.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Win through: To finally succeed after difficulty.
  • After many setbacks, their team won through in the end.
• Win out: To prevail or succeed ultimately.
  • In the debate, the better argument won out.

Related Idioms

• Win hearts and minds: To gain popular support and approval, often on a large scale.
  • The charity's work in the region helped win the hearts and minds of the population.

Verb

1. make (someone) agree, understand, or realize the truth or validity of something
   • He had finally convinced several customers of the advantages of his product