win on points

Succeed but barely, especially by a technicality. For example, Both sides were forceful in that argument about the embargo, but I think the senator won on points . This term comes from boxing, where in the absence of a knockout the winner is decided on the basis of points awarded for each round. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1900s.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Tranter	TRAN-tər	English (Rare)
Bernard	bər-NAHRD (English), BUR-nərd (English), ber-NAHR (French), BER-nahrt (Polish, Croatian)	English, French, Dutch, Polish, Croatian, Slovene, Czech, Ancient Germanic
Moysei	-	Old Church Slavic
Joris	YO-ris (Dutch)	Dutch, Frisian
Alfred	AL-frəd (English), al-FRED (French), AHL-fret (German, Polish), AHL-frət (Dutch)	English, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Polish, Dutch
Ivar	EE-vahr (Swedish, Norwegian)	Swedish, Norwegian, Danish