Meaning
To absorb setbacks and adapt to circumstances as they happen rather than resisting them: Merriam-Webster gives both senses, 'to move so as to lessen the impact of blows' and 'to adjust to things as they happen'. The boxing image is literal technique - a boxer who rolls with a punch turns the body with the blow to blunt its force - extended to any adversity. The companion ride with the punches is the older dictionary form and survives, especially in British usage. Related to but distinct from this site's pull your punches, which is about restraint in attack, not resilience under it. Regional use: American English origin; now general English.
Origin
From boxing: a fighter who moves the head and body with an incoming punch takes much of its force away, and Wiktionary records the technique sense under its lemma ride with the punches - '(of a boxer) to deflect the force of an opponent's punches by moving the body quickly' - with roll with the punches listed as the alternative form. Wikipedia's list of sports idioms, citing the OED, dates the boxing term to 1941 and the figurative sense to 1956. McGraw-Hill prints the figurative gloss: 'to absorb the force of a blow, as in boxing... Accept what is dealt to you.' Farlex adds the modern coping sense - adapting to setbacks, difficulties or adversity. The ride variant is the older dictionary form; the roll variant now dominates in everyday use.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- ride with the punches
- rolled with the punches
- rolling with the punches
Usage Examples
- The tour lost its lead singer and its funding in one week, but the band rolled with the punches.
- She had learned to roll with the punches in a newsroom that restructured every autumn.
- Keep rolling with the punches in the debate; don't get hung up on one stumble.