Dictionary

take on the chin en · VERB

Etymology

A reference to the sport of boxing.

Meanings

1. (UK, idiomatic, transitive) To accept without flinching or complaining.
   • Elsewhere in Sweden recently, two underage girls pressed charges when a teenage boy exposed himself to them at a lake. The court decided, despite the victims' testimonies, that the offence was "not of a sexual nature" and dismissed it. But I'm guessing the girls didn't push for molestation charges because they were censorious prudes who would grow into knowing how to take such behaviour on the chin – they felt genuinely threatened, they took their concerns to court, and they deserved more than being told that they'd misread the situation all along. 2013 September 20, Holly Baxter, “Is masturbating in public a laughing matter?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2023, retrieved 06 Jan 2014:
2. (US, idiomatic, transitive) To be deeply impacted by something.
   • The situation seems to be designed so the taxpayers take it on the chin no matter what. District residents who vote down a budget believing they are voting against any tax raise still receive higher tax bills. 2005 May 20, Robert David Kostoff, My Line Story, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 136:

Forms

Relateds

take something in stride