to the victor belong the spoils
The winner of a conflict gains additional benefits, beyond the subject of the conflictThe winner of a conflict gains additional benefits, beyond the subject of the conflict.
Meaning
1 sensesThe winner of a conflict gains additional benefits, beyond the subject of the conflict.
Translations
3 languagesOrigin
* "It may be, sir, that the politicians of the United States...see nothing wrong in the ru* "It may be, sir, that the politicians of the United States...see nothing wrong in the rule, that to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy." Senator William Learned Marcy, remarks in the Senate, January 25, 1832.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.