gain time

English

Noun

gain time (countable and uncountable, plural gain times)

1. (law, criminology) A reduction of a prisoner’s sentence due to exemplary behavior or participation in a rehabilitation program during incarceration.

Verb

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

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To cause a delay by a circuitous mode of procedure in order to obtain more time than is available.
2. To make up time lost; of a clock or watch, to run fast.

   Antonym: lose time

   • 1959 June, R. A. Young, “A Railway Holiday in Ireland—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 420:

     My opportunity to see what one of these engines could do came when we left Ballymoney on the train from Derry eight minutes late: No. 53 and her crew tore the schedule to shreds and reached Belfast six minutes early, having gained time on every section.