make a pass
verb1
To unambiguously indicate interest in romantic or sexual involvement to someone the speaker has not previously been involved with.
- He clumsily made a pass at the prom queen, and she responded with a scowl.
- Men seldom make passes / At girls who wear glasses.1926, Dorothy Parker, “News Item”, in Enough Rope, page 85:
2 more examples
- You know, all those nights we stayed up talking…How come you never made a pass at me?1985, Joel Schumacher, Carl Kurlander, St. Elmo's Fire (motion picture), spoken by Julianna "Jules" Van Patten (Demi Moore):
- One night, with their inhibitions loosened by moonshine, Jack makes a pass at Ennis and the two men have sex in a tent2025 June 20, Nick Levine, “'In every theatre, people would leave': How 'gay cowboy movie' Brokeback Mountain challenged Hollywood – and the US”, in BBC:
- Related terms
- flirt, hit on, proposition, make the passes