make advances


Attempt to make someone's acquaintance or make overtures, as in The ambassador knew that the ministers would soon make advances to him. [Late 1600s]

Words Nearby make advances

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use make advances in a sentence

  • The research will be used to make advances in robotic technology and facilitate smoother interactions between humans and robots.

    Japan's Robots Are Reading Your Emotions | Angela Erika Kubo, Jake Adelstein | August 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • When she did hear it at length, she was excessively angry that she had been, as she terms it, 'the first to make advances.'

  • He did not speak until he was spoken to, and thus he challenged their interest, and they began to make advances to him.

    'Drag' Harlan | Charles Alden Seltzer
  • He immediately began to make advances toward Bucholz, with, however, but little success.

    Bucholz and the Detectives | Allan Pinkerton
  • He proceeded to make advances to Yosselé, she appealing to the child in his behalf.

    Yekl | Abraham Cahan
  • He could not make advances to her: he had no opportunity to do so: she was making advances to him!

    The Golden Fleece | Julian Hawthorne