win some, lose some

It's not possible to win all the time, as in The coach was philosophical about our being shut out, saying “Win some, lose some.” This expression, generally uttered about a loss, originated in the early 1900s among gamblers who bet on sporting events. A variant, win some, lose some, some rained out, suggests that the idiom comes from baseball. Its figurative use dates from the 1940s. Also see you can't win 'em all.

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Example Sentences

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You win some, lose some as part of the game.

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“I’m just glad that they came and supported me. It’s not the outcome I wanted but, you know, it’s OK. It’s a part of basketball. Win some, lose some.”

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Win some, lose some — but sometimes a historic win arrives decades after the fact.

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Finally, almost involuntarily, she said out loud, "Win some. Lose some."

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“It will be ‘win some, lose some,’ and the Supreme Court, I think, given its precedent, will define a middle ground.”

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winsome Winsor

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