A winner is someone who succeeds in a competition, contest, or challenge. When the race ends, the winner crosses the finish line first. When votes are counted in an election, the winner receives the most support. A spelling bee crowns a winner after all other contestants have been eliminated.

In a broader sense, a winner is also someone who achieves what they set out to accomplish, even outside formal contests. A scientist who discovers a cure after years of research is a winner. A student who finally masters long division after struggling with it is a winner too.

The word can describe objects as well as people. A winning strategy works better than the alternatives. A winning lottery ticket pays out money. When someone says an idea is “a winner,” they mean it's excellent and likely to succeed.