Phrase guide

win the battle, but lose the war

verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

verb

Meaning 1

To achieve a portion of a goal, but fail to achieve the entire goal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • By turning in that one assignment, you may have won the battle, but you never turned anything else in, so in the end you lost the war.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: voittaa taistelu, mutta hävitä koko sota — achieve a portion of a goal