1950–55; contraction of phrase rock and roll; see rock 2
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On Saturday another will make their mark on Slane's rock-'n'-roll history spanning 40 years as headliner Harry Styles gears up to entertain a crowd of 80,000 for his sold-out show.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2023
Cue the intro credits, and we smash cut to Buddy BeBop, an uncool high schooler with dreams of becoming a rock-’n’-roll musician.
From Slate ● Oct. 31, 2022
Our trip to Langara this summer was marked by 25-mile-an-hour westerly winds, adding a rock-’n’-roll beat to the rhythm of our fishing boat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2018
Burning Guitars’ collection was bold, brash and too over-the-top for anyone but a rock-‘n’-roll frontman, while Datari Austin used fabrics that came across as a little blasé and — dare we say — cheap.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2017
The festival’s official centerpiece, “Not Fade Away” — the much-anticipated feature film debut of David Chase, who created “The Sopranos” — is a vigorous rock-’n’-roll coming-of-age movie.
From New York Times ● Oct. 2, 2012
"When you put music on for him he won't stop singing -- bachata, rock 'n' roll, anything noisy."
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
“When you’re carving through the crowd, you feel like Johnny Hallyday at the Parc des Princes,” said Rolland, a stage winner on the Alpe d’Huez in 2011, with a deeply French rock ’n’ roll reference.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
We’re at a moment when a lot of foundational rock ’n’ roll figures — Are dying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
Also a rock 'n' roll musician, Sutch first ran in 1963 in the Stratford by-election and also ran against former prime minister Harold Wilson in the 1966 election.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
Roberto and I began to tune in to rock ’n’ roll music on the radio.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
