hit on
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Related to hit on: hit on someone
hit (up)on (something)
1. Literally, to strike someone or something on some particular spot. A noun or pronoun can be used between "hit" and "(up)on." Just hit on the top of the TV until the sound comes back on. A pair of shoes fell off the shelf in my closet and hit me right on the head.
2. To discover or realize something. I think we've finally hit upon the reason the experiment has been failing.
3. To address, discuss, or focus on something. She hits upon a really important issue in her paper. One of the things I'd like to hit on in my presentation is the impact our product has on the environment.
See also: hit
hit on (one)
To show one's romantic or sexual interest in one; to flirt with one. Are you hitting on me? You're a married man! Tom's such a dope. He can never tell when women are hitting on him.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
hit (up)on someone or something
1. Lit. to strike or pound on someone or something. (Upon is formal and less commonly used than on.) Jeff hit upon the mugger over and over. I hit on the radio until it started working again.
2. Fig. to discover someone or something. I think I have hit upon something. There is a lever you have to press in order to open this cabinet. I hit on Tom in an amateur play production. I offered him a job in my nightclub immediately.
3. Go to hit on someone; hit on something.
hit someone (or an animal) on something
to strike someone or an animal in a particular place. The stone hit me on the leg. I hit the beaver on its side and it didn't seem to feel it. She hit herself on her left cheek.
hit on someone
Inf. to flirt with someone; to make a pass at someone. The women were all hitting on George, but he didn't complain. I thought he was going to hit on me—but he didn't.
hit on something
to discover something. She hit on a new scheme for removing the impurities from drinking water. I hit on it when I wasn't able to sleep one night.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
hit on
1. Also, hit upon. Discover, happen to find, as in I've hit upon a solution to this problem. [c. 1700]
2. Make sexual advances to someone, especially unwanted ones, as in You can't go into that bar without being hit on. [Slang; mid-1900s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
hit on
v.
1. To strike someone or something in some particular area: A branch fell off the tree and hit me on the back.
2. To discover something: We finally hit on a solution to our financial problems.
3. Slang To pay unsolicited and usually unwanted sexual attention to someone: I can't believe that the bartender hit on me!
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
hit on, to
To make a romantic advance or sexual proposition. A Boston Globe cartoon by Harry Bliss had the caption, “No, John, I don’t remember the ‘Summer of Love.’ But I do recall the spring when you hit on my sister!” (June 21, 2010). An older version is to make a pass at, which dates from the 1920s. A classic use of the term appeared in Dorothy Parker’s quip, “Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses” (Not So Deep as a Well, 1936).
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer