Although they lost, the minority claimed the vote as a 'moral victory' since they had won the support of so many former opponents.
The company won the lawsuit, but it was a 'Pyrrhic victory' because of all the bad publicity they received during the trial.
She was equally gracious 'in victory' and in defeat. [=she was gracious when she won and when she lost]
(..) So I can't just kill him, or it makes me even more unmerciful! The whole thing's like some crazed nightmare. He is defying you. His every victory is an act of defiance. The mob sees this, and so do the senate. Every day he lives, they grow bolder. (..)2000 Gladiator