on a roll

Idioms  

1. On a streak of success or intense activity, as in The team's scored three runs in the last inning and they're really on a roll, or Once the experiment succeeded, Tim was on a roll. This slangy term, alluding to the momentum in the act of rolling, dates from the second half of the 1900s, but roll alone has been used in this sense since the early 1800s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

on a roll

For two years, Aschenbrenner, a 20-something former OpenAI employee, was on a roll.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Nvidia stock has been on a roll ahead of its earnings but AMD's most recent deal could sharpen AI chip competition.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

While Apple has been on a roll this year, the lineup is a bit thin this month and it remains to be seen whether “Ted Lasso” can recapture its first-season magic.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026

Golf tourism in Northern Ireland is on a roll following Rory McIlroy's back-to-back triumphs at the Masters at Augusta National.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026

The senate shifted restlessly, but most of them were too afraid to interrupt Octavian while he was on a roll.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan