Meaning of take a licking and keep on ticking | Babel Free

Definitions

To be tough; to have endurance; to have the capacity to absorb stress or damage, but still be able to function.

idiomatic

Examples

“How am I supposed to knock these other guys off. My wild card is nothing but defensive. I take a licking and keep on ticking. Big whoop.”

“Insurance allows your business to take a licking and keep on ticking.”

“The persistence-through-change of Romantic ideologemes — the way they've taken a licking and kept on ticking — is explicable by their extension and saturation — their participation — in ongoing formations of capitalism and disciplinarity.”

“"That," the first said, "was one hardy son of a bitch. Took a licking but went on ticking. I heard he made it all the way down off the mountain before he snuffed it."”

“But the car amazed him. It kept going. And that too struck him as funny. Takes a licking, keeps on ticking.”

CEFR level