make a pass at
Idioms-
Flirt or make advances to someone, especially of a sexual nature, as in “Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses” (Dorothy Parker, Not So Deep As A Well , 1936). [1920s]
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Also, take a pass at . Make an attempt, as in I've made a pass at opening it but had no luck , or Jake, will you take a pass at changing the oil? This usage employs pass in the sense of a “jab” or “poke.” [ Colloquial ; 1900s] Also see make a stab at .
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.
Ky's critics in South Viet Nam did not even make a pass at politeness.
From Time Magazine Archive
Frankie, the goodlooking young piano player at the local cinema, is just brash enough to make a pass at Constance, even though Melford is by now sure to become the next mayor of the town.
From Time Magazine Archive
The message to the boys is that they need not make a pass at a girl to prove themselves masculine, and to the girls that they need not say yes to remain popular.
From Time Magazine Archive
Any attempt to codify principles that the U.N. could make a pass at enforcing would meet insuperable resistance from nations with festering internal disputes.
From Time Magazine Archive
When I find it on my table, I make a pass at it and it leaps with a scut.
From Voices from the Past by Bartlett, Paul Alexander
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.
