winner takes all
No shared spoils
Winner takes all describes a situation where the victor claims everything and losers get nothing.
In elections, winner-takes-all systems award all delegates or seats to whoever gets the most votes, even by a slim margin.
The phrase applies to competitions, negotiations, or markets where second place yields no reward: It's a winner-takes-all industry—either you dominate or you disappear.
- playoffContest deciding advancement
- championshipCompetition for top rank
- victoryDefeating an opponent
- gamesmanshipWinning without cheating outright
- market concentrationExtent of seller dominance
big fish eats small fish · race to the bottom · electoral college · competition · glory · all or nothing · contest · spoiler effect · kingmaker · crown · zero-sum game · blood sport · monopoly · strategy games · first-past-the-post · prize · swing states · electoral threshold
- competition metaphorslevel playing field, race to the bottom, win-win, rat race, front runner
- competitioncompete, competitor, contender, sports, match
- Competition idiomslevel playing field, down to the wire, neck and neck, win hands down, come from behind
- network effectscritical mass, virality, nodes, connections, lock-in
- gambling lingoall in, ante up, raise the stakes, go all in, high roller
- competitionscontests, tournaments, match, matches, game
winner takes allfair share
Equitable part owed
pro rata · consolation prizes · proportional representation · ranked choice · spread the wealth
winner takes allcollaborative
Involving shared effort
cooperative · win-win · egalitarian · non-zero-sum · communal
winner, takes, wins, winning, winnings, winnable, take, taken, taking