get the upper hand

基本解释

Chinese negotiators often use booze to break down barriers—and to try to get the upper hand.
中方的谈判代表通常在酒桌上破除隔阂，然后试图占上风。
The lack of folate might enable cancer to get the upper hand, allowing mutations to occur unchecked.
缺少叶酸则可能会使肿瘤占上风，使之发生未加抑制的突变。
Even the number of civil wars that pit governments against rebel movements may be declining, as governments increasingly get the upper hand, as in Iraq, Colombia and Sri Lanka.
甚至政府与叛乱运动作战的内战数量可能也在减少，因为政府越来越占上风，比如在伊拉克、哥伦比亚和斯里兰卡。

And so I think they are concerned that on national security the Republicans could get the upper hand and hurt Obama politically."

Economic stabilisation was undermined, and this helped Slobodan Milosovic to get the upper hand.
ECONOMIST: By invitation
Chinese negotiators often use booze to break down barriers—and to try to get the upper hand.
ECONOMIST: What it feels like to be bought by a Chinese firm
When things get staid and lose their volatility, the bad sides of human character get the upper hand: Greed and laziness.
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