make a pass
English
[edit]Verb
[edit]make a pass (third-person singular simple present makes a pass, present participle making a pass, simple past and past participle made a pass) [with at]
- To unambiguously indicate interest in sexual activity to someone the speaker has not previously been sexually involved with.
- He clumsily made a pass at the prom queen, and she responded with a scowl.
- 1926, Dorothy Parker, “News Item”, in Enough Rope, page 85:
- Men seldom make passes / At girls who wear glasses.
- 1985, Joel Schumacher, Carl Kurlander, St. Elmo's Fire (motion picture), spoken by Julianna "Jules" Van Patten (Demi Moore):
- You know, all those nights we stayed up talking…How come you never made a pass at me?
Usage notes
[edit]The term is most frequently used for unwanted sexual advances.
Translations
[edit]to unambiguously indicate interest in sexual activity to someone the speaker has not previously been sexually involved with
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