play to win

Language: en

Meaning: (sports)To play in an especiallycompetitive,committedmanner, focused intently on winning.1992June 6, Clifton Brown, “Basketball: Blazers Beat Bulls in Overtime to Even Series”, inNew York Times, retrieved29 July 2012:"[W]e just got totally outplayed. Instead ofplaying to win, we were playing not to lose."; (idiomatic,by extension)To make a special,determinedeffortto achieve generalsuccessor a particulargoal, in life, in one's career, in negotiation, etc.1856,Charles Reade, chapter 24, inIt Is Never Too Late to Mend:"Iplay to win. I am playing for human lives. This, sir, is the torture, marks of which you have seen on the prisoners; but your inexperience will not detect at a glance all the diabolical ingenuity and cruelty that lurks in this piece of linen and these straps of leather."1988, David Mahoney (chairman, Norton Simon Inc.), quoted inThe Executive's Book of Quotations(Oxford, 1994),→ISBN,p. 298:"The difference betweenplaying to winand playing not to lose is the difference between the successful executive and the security-hunting, mediocre man.1997,William Bernhardt,Naked Justice,→ISBN,page355:And Bullock could care less about the judge's threats. Like always, he wasplaying to win.2009December 16, “People Who Mattered: Rahm Emanuel”, inTime:Rahm Emanuel was certainly a surprising choice for chief of staff — he's a hard-cussing, old-school-campaign knife fighter and pragmatic congressional arm twister whoplays to win.

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