hit on

present singular third person hits on · participle present hitting on

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

   Guys are hitting on them almost all the time.

   3 more examples

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

   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.

   2003 September 23, Bill Amend, FoxTrot (comic)

   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.

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

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

2. idiomatictransitiveTo discover, pinpoint; to think up; to realize.

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

   2 more examples

   He hit on a great idea for improving the design.

   About a year ago, OpenAI researchers hit on a new way of improving these models. Instead of letting them respond to queries immediately, the researchers allowed the models to run for a period of time and “reason” in natural language about their answers.

   2025 December 11, Charlie Campbell, Andrew R. Chow and Billy Perrigo, “The Architects of AI Are TIME’s 2025 Person of the Year”, in Time

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hit, on.

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

   1996, Global Journal on Human Rights Law, page 210