"Gain ground on somebody / something" or "Gather ground"?
I know the 1st expression, but I came across the expression "gather ground". According to my dictionary, it seems that "gather ground" has the same meaning as "gain ground", but I can't find the expression anywhere. I don't know if this is any kind of archaic expression or not. I don't even know the preposition used. Maybe "gather ground on somebody / something", I don't know.

Thank you in advance!

Question

"Gain ground on somebody / something" or "Gather ground"?
I know the 1st expression, but I came across the expression "gather ground". According to my dictionary, it seems that "gather ground" has the same meaning as "gain ground", but I can't find the expression anywhere. I don't know if this is any kind of archaic expression or not. I don't even know the preposition used. Maybe "gather ground on somebody / something", I don't know.

Thank you in advance!

Answer

"gather ground" is not very commonly used. It is a bit different from "gain ground on" and is used without a preposition or an object. (ground is the object)

It means to spread out, or to grow, so that the group or mass "gathering ground" is covering more physical area.

"The swelling crowd gathered ground at an alarming rate."
"By midday, the fog still continued to gather ground."