Finished without a sign of victory! (3)
I believe the answer is:
oer
'finished without a sign of victory' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'finished without a sign' is the wordplay.
'finished' becomes 'over' (over can mean finished or ended).
'without' is a deletion indicator.
'a sign' becomes 'v' (a V-sign a gesture made with two fingers).
'over' with 'v' taken out is 'OER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for oer that I've seen is " Above (poetic)".)