Meanings
present singular third person puts the make on · participle present putting the make on · alternative put the moves on
- informaltransitiveTo pursue with romantic interest, especially in an aggressive, sexually suggestive manner.
1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure I met a lesbian friend of Liz's, Dawn, who promptly put the make on me & I figured it's about time I tried it.
1 more example
1978, "High Steppin' to stardom (Film review of Saturday Night Fever)," Time, 3 Apr., His girl—the one he has been trying unsuccessfully to put the make on—hears the longing and the edge of desperation in his voice and kisses him on the cheek.
Synonyms: flirt with, hit on, hustle
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo pursue with romantic interest, especially in an aggressive, sexually suggestive manner.
Origin
From make (“love interest, spouse, mate”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 騷擾追求 /骚扰追求, 色情糾纏 /色情纠缠
- 騷擾追求 /骚扰追求 (sāorǎo zhuīqiú)pursue with romantic interest
- 色情糾纏 /色情纠缠 (sèqíng jiūchán)pursue with romantic interest
Dutch verleiden, avances maken
- verleidenpursue with romantic interest
- avances makenpursue with romantic interest
Finnish iskeä
- iskeäpursue with romantic interest
French draguer, faire des avances
- draguerpursue with romantic interest
- faire des avancespursue with romantic interest
Spanish insinuarse
- insinuarsepursue with romantic interest
Cite this entry
put the make on. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20the%20make%20on
“put the make on.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20the%20make%20on. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “put the make on,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20the%20make%20on.
Source: put the make on on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.