make up ground

idiom

: to move faster in order to come closer to someone or something ahead

She was trailing in the race, but she was beginning to make up ground.

—often used figuratively

The campaign is trying to make up ground by advertising heavily in key states.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The block came with 18 seconds left as Murray tried to make up ground inside. —Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 4 Feb. 2023

Airlines encouraged workers to quit in 2020, when air travel collapsed, and carriers have struggled to make up ground this year, when air travel rebounded faster than almost anyone had expected. —Andy Peters, ajc, 28 Dec. 2021

Wednesday’s hourlong forum, part of which aired on WBZ, was a prime opportunity for Essaibi George to make up ground on Wu, whom a new poll shows holding a commanding lead less than three weeks before Election Day. —BostonGlobe.com, 14 Oct. 2021

Junior Rocky Lombardi has the most experience and is likely the front-runner with the truncated offseason, but Theo Day and Payton Thorne — Reed’s high school teammate — can begin to make up ground against live defenses in practice. —Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, 29 Sep. 2020

Toyota appears to be working overtime to make up ground in the race to electrify its lineup. —Eric Stafford, Car and Driver, 8 Apr. 2023

Yet in the three months since Harsin’s firing, Auburn’s coaching staff — first the interim staff under Cadillac Williams and then the new staff under Hugh Freeze — worked tirelessly to make up ground with the 2023 class and through the transfer portal. —Tom Green | [e-mail], al, 8 Feb. 2023

Major League Baseball’s balanced schedule creates fewer opportunities to make up ground — or build on a lead — in the division over the course of the season. —Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2023

After narrowly trailing in Thursday’s races, West came into Friday behind Service by just two seconds and were able to make up ground — and then some — thanks in large part to the performance of junior Hatcher Menkens, who won the freestyle race with a time of 24:50.7. —Josh Reed, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Feb. 2023

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