gain on

English

Alternative forms

• gain upon

Verb

gain on (third-person singular simple present gains on, present participle gaining on, simple past and past participle gained on)

1. To encroach on.

   The ocean gains on the land.

2. To obtain influence with.
   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput):

     My gentleness and good behaviour had gained so far on the emperor and his court […] that I began to conceive hopes of getting my liberty in a short time.

3. To win ground upon; to move faster than, as in a race or contest.
   • 2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

     Soon, the van lurched into a high gear and started gaining on Zoe, who was running as fast as her little legs would carry her.

4. To get the better of; to have the advantage of.
   • 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     The English have not only gained upon the Venetians in the Levant, but have their cloth in Venice itself.

Anagrams

• Ongian, ganoin