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Phrase(s): If you can’t beat them, join them. [and] If you can’t lick ’em, join ’em.
Prov. If you have to give up fighting some group because you can’t win, band together with them. (The version with lick is informal.) • Jill: I just got a kitten. Jane: I can’t believe it! You used to hate people who owned cats. Jill: If you can’t beat them, join them. • Alan: I hear you’re a Republican now. Fred: Yeah, I figured, if you can’t lick ’em, join ’em.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs