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to the victor belong the spoils



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Idioms and Phrases

The winner gets everything, as in He not only won the tournament but ended up with numerous lucrative endorsements—to the victor belong the spoils . This expression alludes to the spoils system of American politics, whereby the winner of an election gives desirable jobs to party supporters. [First half of 1800s]
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

In defending one of President Andrew Jackson’s appointments, Marcy said, “To the victor belong the spoils of the enemy.”

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The old expression, “to the victor belong the spoils” — you remember.

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“In the old days, to the victor belong the spoils. We don't do that,” he said.

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“It used to be, ‘To the victor belong the spoils,’” he said at a “commander in chief forum” in New York during the campaign in 2016.

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“To the victor belong the spoils of the enemy,” one Jackson ally quipped.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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