Despite scoring two tries of real quality through Anthony Allen and Olly Morgan, Gloucester struggled to come to terms with Leicester's ferocious physical onslaught in the first half and couldn't drag the game round after the break.
No quarter was asked and none given in a typically titanic first half full of thunderous commitment, bags of endeavour and attitude by the bucket load.
Leicester were good at everything they excel at. They drove possession vigorously, cranked up the heat in dangerous areas and looked to snipe around the fringes. Austin Healey, Shane Jennings, Tom Croft and Ben Kay led the way as they forged themselves into a 15-6 lead by the end of the half.
Gloucester had gone in front with a third minute penalty by Ludovic Mercier but their advantage didn't last. In the seventh minute, Andy Goode drove a penalty deep into Gloucester territory to breathe life into the home side.
Kay held the catch and from the drove that rumbled powerfully forward, prop Michael Holford emerged with the score.
It could have been worse for Gloucester immediately from the kick off. Jennings burst through a thicket of defenders from a ruck and chipped Morgan but Allen had just enough pace to beat Healey to the ball.
Healey was causing no end of problems around the fringes but it was his forwards who did the real damage and Gloucester struggled to retain the ball long enough to clear the danger or relieve the pressure.
And it was not long before Leicester doubled their money with a second try. They ran play back into midfield before Croft, showing good hands and pace on his debut, sent Tom Varndell past Mark Foster and to the line.
Gloucester were in deep trouble but Mercier cut the deficit to 12-6 with a 37th minute penalty as Peter Richards ignited a Gloucester recovery with a series of snapping breaks and clever kicking.
But when Goode landed a penalty on the stroke of half-time, it looked as though Gloucester would trail 15-6 - not a bit of a it.
Right on the whistle, James Forrester controlled a scrum, Richards fed Mercier and he slipped a pass to James Simpson-Daniel. The England winger set off, jinked inside and headed towards the posts. As the cover converged, he sent a beautifully timed inside pass to Allen who held off the cover to score his first Premiership try.
Mercier converted to leave Gloucester trailing 15-13 at the break. The question was whether they would be able to shrug off their start and get back into the game.
They had allowed Leicester to play some heads up rugby on the front foot and it required a massive effort to drag the game around.
But they almost got the dream start they needed when Simpson-Daniel drifted into space but Rob Thirlby spilled his pass close to the line.
However, the Tigers scented a crucial victory and grabbed a third try after 46 minutes. Varndell changed wings to cut a lovely angle and beat the defenders to the line.
And when Goode landed a 59th minute penalty, Gloucester were 25-13 adrift. However, they rallied and raised the prospect of an unlikely victory with a second try.
Terry Fanolua had made a muscular impression from the bench and when he combined with Simpson-Daniel, Olly Morgan was strong enough to complete a fine all-round match with the try.
Mercier booted the conversion from the touchline but Gloucester could not close the gap in the dying minutes to slip to their second Premiership defeat of the season.
"I thought Leicester were good at what we know they like to do," said head coach Dean Ryan. "They out-muscled us for 30 minutes and that caused us major problems.
"When we couldn't get fast ball it meant they had numbers to defend in the midfield and that was frustrating because I felt even with a two-on-two we looked dangerous with Simpson-Daniel and Allen.
"We left ourselves too much to do and at times we looked a young side without the experience to deal with situations in a tough environment like this.
"But we scored two brilliant outstanding tries and that can give us confidence."
