hit on

hit (up)on someone or something 

1. Lit. to strike or pound on someone or something. (Upon is formal and less commonly used than on.) Jeff hit upon the mugger over and over. I hit on the radio until it started working again.

2. Fig. to discover someone or something. I think I have hit upon something. There is a lever you have to press in order to open this cabinet. I hit on Tom in an amateur play production. I offered him a job in my nightclub immediately.

3. Go to hit on someone; hit on something.

See also: hit

hit someone (or an animal) on something

to strike someone or an animal in a particular place. The stone hit me on the leg. I hit the beaver on its side and it didn't seem to feel it. She hit herself on her left cheek.

See also: hit

hit on someone

Inf. to flirt with someone; to make a pass at someone. The women were all hitting on George, but he didn't complain. I thought he was going to hit on me—but he didn't.

See also: hit

hit on something

to discover something. She hit on a new scheme for removing the impurities from drinking water. I hit on it when I wasn't able to sleep one night.

See also: hit

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hit on somebody (slang)

to clearly show that you are sexually attracted to someone Pete doesn't even realize half the time when girls are hitting on him.

Related vocabulary: come on to somebody

See also: hit

hit on something also hit upon something

1. to discover or think of something new Adams and her record producer hit on a jazzy, sophisticated style.

2. to mention something briefly I just called to make sure that we hit on everything you need when we met yesterday.

See also: hit