hit on

See also: hiton

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

hit on (third-person singular simple present hits on, present participle hitting on, simple past and past participle hit on)

1. (transitive, slang) To flirt with; to approach and speak to (someone), seeking romance, love, sex, etc.

   Synonyms: proposition, come on, pass, make a pass

   That's the third guy that has hit on her tonight.

   Guys are hitting on them almost all the time.

   • 2003 September 23, Bill Amend, FoxTrot (comic):

     Don Iguan: I have slithered the world over in search of beauty such as yours! Perhaps you'd like to come back to my lair this evening. I'll light some candles... put on some beetle music...
     Mom: I'm married. Go hit on your sister.

   • 2015, Sheila Roberts, A Wedding on Primrose Street, MIRA, →ISBN, page 181:

     Anne watched as he put an arm around one of the bridesmaids and gave her a decidedly ungrandfatherly squeeze while attempting to look down her dress, then proceeded to hit on the mother of the groom.

2. (transitive, idiomatic) To discover, pinpoint; to think up; to realize.

   He hit on a great idea for improving the design.

   I think you've just hit right on the solution.

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hit,‎ on.
   • 1996, Global Journal on Human Rights Law, page 210:

     He was hit on his head so strongly that he stumbled forward and then he was severely hit from several sides.

Translations

to approach somebody seeking love, sex, etc.

• Azerbaijani: tutmaq (az)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 挑逗 (zh) (tiǎodòu), 調情 / 调情 (zh) (tiáoqíng)

• Czech: balit (cs) impf, sbalit pf, flirtovat (cs) impf
• Danish: lægge an på
• Finnish: iskeä (fi)
• French: draguer (fr), (Quebec) cruiser (fr)
• German: anmachen (de), anbaggern (de)
• Greek: την πέφτω σε (tin péfto se)
• Hebrew: הִתְחִיל (he) (hitẖíl)
• Indonesian: mengorat
• Italian: provarci con
• Japanese: 言い寄る (ja) (いいよる, iiyoru), 口説く (ja) (くどく, kudoku), ナンパする (ja) (nanpa-suru), いちゃつく (ja) (ichatsuku), 戯れる (ja) (たわむれる, tawamureru)
• Malay: memikat, pikat (ms)
• Norwegian: sjekke (no)
• Polish: podrywać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: dar em cima de (Brazilian slang)
• Russian: (neutral) уха́живать (ru) (uxáživatʹ) (за (za) + instrumental case), (coll.) приударя́ть (ru) (priudarjátʹ) (за (za) + instrumental case), (coll.) увива́ться (ru) (uvivátʹsja) (за (za) + instrumental case), (coll.) ухлёстывать (ru) (uxljóstyvatʹ) (за (za) + instrumental case), (coll.) кле́иться (ru) (kléitʹsja) (к (k) + dative case), (slang, of a first approach) подка́тывать (ru) (podkátyvatʹ) (к (k) + dative case), (slang) подбива́ть кли́нья (podbivátʹ klínʹja) (к (k) + dative case), пристава́ть (ru) impf (pristavátʹ) (к (k) + dative case), заи́грывать (ru) (zaígryvatʹ), флиртова́ть (ru) (flirtovátʹ) (с (s) + instrumental case)
• Spanish: ligar (es), echar los perros (es) (Latin America), tirar los tejos (es) (Spain), meter fichas (es) (Spain), insinuarse (es)
• Swedish: stöta på (sv), ragga på (sv)
• Turkish: asılmak (tr)

to think up; to realize; to invent

• Czech: přijít na co pf, napadnout (cs) pf, vymyslet (cs) pf, vymýšlet (cs) impf
• Finnish: keksiä (fi)

See also

• hit upon

Anagrams

• Othin