gain on

present singular third person gains on · participle present gaining on · participle past gained on · past gained on · alternative gain upon

1. To encroach on.

   The ocean gains on the land.

2. To obtain influence with.

   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.

   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)

3. To win ground upon; to move faster than, as in a race or contest.

   Downhill the men rather gained on me, but uphill I began to distance them.

   1860, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White

   1 more example

   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.

   2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN

4. To get the better of; to have the advantage of.

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

   1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC