Word.ws English Dictionary

on a roll

on a roll prepositional phrase: having a streak of good luck or good progress or success.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (informal) Having a streak of good luck or good progress or success.
    • He was on a roll with the answers that day and didn't want to stop.
    • You're on a roll and now you pray it lasts1983, Matthew Wilder, Greg Prestopino, “Break My Stride”, in I Don't Speak the Language

Examples of on a roll in a sentence

  • With unemployment falling, incomes rising, inflation at bay and shoppers crowding into stores, the economy is entering 1984 on a roll.1984 January 2, Charles P. Alexander, “Cheers for a Banner Year”, in Time, retrieved 26 Aug 2015:
  • `You beauty I thought, I'm on a roll now so I grabbed her hand and escorted her to the floor.1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 85:
  • I'm on a roll, I'm on a roll this time / I feel my luck could change1997, “Lucky”, in OK Computer, performed by Radiohead:
  • After a sluggish start to the season, Torino are on a roll.2015 February 9, Matthew Amalfitano, “Torino eyeing Europa League”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 26 Aug 2015:

Questions about on a roll

What does on a roll mean?
On a roll means having a streak of good luck or good progress or success.
How do you use on a roll in a sentence?
With unemployment falling, incomes rising, inflation at bay and shoppers crowding into stores, the economy is entering 1984 on a roll.
What part of speech is on a roll?
On a roll is a prepositional phrase.

Words near on a roll in the dictionary

  1. on a pinch
  2. on a plate
  3. on a platter
  4. on a promise
  5. on a regular basis
  6. on a roll
  7. on a shoestring
  8. on a silver platter
  9. on a sixpence
  10. on a stick
  11. on a stretch

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on a roll (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “on a roll.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/on_a_roll. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.