Word.ws English Dictionary

you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride

you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride phrase: you can't escape the inconvenience and/or cost of the legal process even if you are innocent and the charges are ultimately dropped or you get acquitted.

Phrase

you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride

  1. (informal) You can't escape the inconvenience and/or cost of the legal process even if you are innocent and the charges are ultimately dropped or you get acquitted.
    • But you get to the point of you can beat the rap, but you cannot beat the ride, and that is really a good description I think of a lot of litigation, and what the patent trolls rely on. All right, it is going to be hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars to hire a lawyer. I can beat the...2015 March 25, United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, Patent Reform: Protecting American Innovators and Job...
    • The jury might acquit you - you could beat the rap. But hang on tight, Rick. You're not going to beat the ride.2015, Barbara Parker, Criminal Justice, Open Road Media, →ISBN

Origin of you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride

See rap (“record of arrest and prosecution”). The "ride" is being taken away in the back of a police car. Already known as a saying in 1973.

Questions about you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride

What does you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride mean?
You can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride means you can't escape the inconvenience and/or cost of the legal process even if you are innocent and the charges are ultimately dropped or you get acquitted.
What part of speech is you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride?
You can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride is a phrase.

Words near you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride in the dictionary

  1. you better believe it
  2. you break it, you bought it
  3. you break it, you buy it
  4. you buy cheap, you get cheap
  5. you call this
  6. you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride
  7. you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar
  8. you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar
  9. you can lead a horse to water
  10. you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make her drink
  11. you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride (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: “you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/you_can_beat_the_rap%2C_but_you_can%27t_beat_the_ride. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.