- take it on the chin
- take it on the chin & take it on the nose1. Lit. to stand up to something adverse, such as criticism. (Fig. on taking a direct punch to the head in boxing.) •
They laid some blunt criticism on him, but he took it on the chin.
•I knew he could take it on the nose.
2. Fig. to receive the full brunt of something. •Why do I have to take it on the chin for something I didn't do?
•If you did it, you have to learn to take it on the chin.
* * *{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To be badly beaten or hurt. * /Our football team really took it on the chin today. They are all bumps and bruises./ * /Mother and I took it on the chin in the card game./ 2. To accept without complaint something bad that happens to you; accept trouble or defeat calmly. * /A good football player can take it on the chin when his team loses./
Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.