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Synonyms

hit on

British  

verb

  1. to strike

  2. Also: hit upon.  to discover unexpectedly or guess correctly

  3. slang to make sexual advances to (a person)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
hit on Idioms  

  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]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“That spike is a huge hit on someone’s take-home pay, whether they’re a small-business owner or W-2 employee at a company,” said Mark Valentino, head of business banking at Citizens.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

The new target represents 42% upside for Arista shares from Monday’s closing price of $126.25—and is 9% higher than its record close of $164.94, which it hit on Oct.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

“Anytime you get thrown up-and-in and then you get hit on the next pitch, you’re gonna be upset,” Trout said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026

"We thought we had hit on a winning formula."

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

It was another titi hit, on his hand, but this time somebody saw where the fire had come from.

From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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