gain/gather steam
idiom
informal
: to increase in strength, force, or energy
The campaign quickly gained/gathered steam.
Examples of gain/gather steam in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The move to bring Altman and Brockman back to OpenAI seemed to gather steam Saturday evening as negotiations continued.
—
Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2023
As home electrification continues to gain steam, solar (and storage) installs will continue to go through the roof.
—Chris Hopper, Fortune, 3 July 2023
The false and baseless claim that Ukraine was developing biological weapons with the help of the U.S. government labs began to gain steam on Twitter in the aftermath of the Russian invasion.
—Nicole Sganga, CBS News, 7 June 2022
If Republicans impeach Biden and the polls don’t move at all, that’s a very bad sign for a reelection effort that has yet to gain steam.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 14 Sep. 2023
As the latest controversy continued to gather steam Sunday, Spain's equalities minister criticized Rubiales' actions.
—Steve Gardner, USA TODAY, 22 Aug. 2023
As negotiations between the WGA and the studios and streamers gather steam, the reverberations are being felt well beyond the confines of Sherman Oaks where the sides are sitting down to wrangle over complicated issues at stake.
—K.j. Yossman, Variety, 7 Apr. 2023
Some conservative activists have also floated the idea of increasing the presence of sheriffs wherever ballots are cast, counted and transported, echoing a proposal by Mr. Trump in 2020 that didn’t gain steam.
—New York Times, 25 July 2022
The Dutch effort began to gather steam in 2018, after the country’s Ministry of Justice and Security commissioned an audit of an enterprise version of Microsoft Office.
—Natasha Singer, New York Times, 18 Jan. 2023
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Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2023
As home electrification continues to gain steam, solar (and storage) installs will continue to go through the roof.
—Chris Hopper, Fortune, 3 July 2023
The false and baseless claim that Ukraine was developing biological weapons with the help of the U.S. government labs began to gain steam on Twitter in the aftermath of the Russian invasion.
—Nicole Sganga, CBS News, 7 June 2022
If Republicans impeach Biden and the polls don’t move at all, that’s a very bad sign for a reelection effort that has yet to gain steam.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 14 Sep. 2023
As the latest controversy continued to gather steam Sunday, Spain's equalities minister criticized Rubiales' actions.
—Steve Gardner, USA TODAY, 22 Aug. 2023
As negotiations between the WGA and the studios and streamers gather steam, the reverberations are being felt well beyond the confines of Sherman Oaks where the sides are sitting down to wrangle over complicated issues at stake.
—K.j. Yossman, Variety, 7 Apr. 2023
Some conservative activists have also floated the idea of increasing the presence of sheriffs wherever ballots are cast, counted and transported, echoing a proposal by Mr. Trump in 2020 that didn’t gain steam.
—New York Times, 25 July 2022
The Dutch effort began to gather steam in 2018, after the country’s Ministry of Justice and Security commissioned an audit of an enterprise version of Microsoft Office.
—Natasha Singer, New York Times, 18 Jan. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gain/gather steam.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Gain/gather steam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gain%2Fgather%20steam. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.
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