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Glite Dictionary
to make ground

to make ground

1 4.6
To get closer to a goal
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : avanzar
  • She has been studying diligently and is making ground in her language skills every day.

Examples

  • The charity event helped us make ground in our fundraising efforts for the local community.

  • After weeks of hard work, the team is finally making ground in their project to develop a new app.

  • The Dispatch poll today shows Obama having definitely made ground there.

    Blog text (5)

  • Deep Focus edges past Buena Vista now, while Dream Alliance tries to make ground on the outside of According To Pete.

    Dream Horse (2021)

Synonyms

to gain ground
vsto make ground
16 4.0

To make progress and become more successful than others

is broader, meaning general progress or forward movement toward goals
to gain momentum
vsto make ground
15 4.1

To start moving faster while also growing stronger and gaining support over time

refers to making progress or gaining advantage without implying acceleration
to make headway
vsto make ground
9 3.5

To make slow progress when it is difficult

is used for broad progress or improving position, not only slow effort
to make one's way
vsto make ground
3.4

To move forward through a place despite problems

is focused more on achieving advantage or progress than on physical movement

Antonyms

to stall
166 4.3

To delay doing something on purpose to get more time

to regress
24 7.5

To return to an earlier, less developed or worse state

How Much Progress

to make ground
1 4.6
to struggle
851 2.8
to stall
166 4.3

Surface Forms

make ground infinitive
made ground past
made ground past participle
making ground present participle
makes ground third person singular

Morphology

make + ground

The constituents 'make' and 'ground' give a partial clue: 'ground' can be understood metaphorically as a position or advantage and 'make' could imply causing or gaining that position. However, mapping 'make' to the meaning 'gain' or 'move forward' is not fully predictable and the construction is less transparent than more literal verb+particle combos; learners may better recognize the related collocate 'gain ground'. Because the meaning requires a metaphorical shift and some lexical knowledge beyond the literal parts, it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Make ground comes from soldiers and travellers moving forward over land. To make more ground meant to take more land or get closer to a goal, so the picture of moving forward shows why today it means 'to gain progress' or 'to move forward'.