on the make en · ADP
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From make (“companion, spouse, mate”), related to match (“counterpart, partner”).
Meanings
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(informal) Actively seeking a romantic encounter or relationship.
Harry (Matthew Cowles) and Tim (Timothy Meyers) are an inseparable pair of macho punks always on the make for an easy sexual score.
1973 November 26, T. E. Kalem, “The Theatre: Savage Mating Dance”, in Time:
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(broadly, informal) Actively seeking an opportunity for self-advancement; eager to ingratiate oneself to others in order to secure some advantage.
She said that anyone under the age of thirty living in a resort community was on the make somehow: “pimping, dealing, hooking, detoxing, escaping, scamming, or what have you.”
1991, Douglas Coupland, “It Can't Last”, in Generation X, New York: St. Martin's Press, →OCLC, page 36:In a city where everybody was "hustling," everybody, as they phrased it, "on the make," why should anyone take a second glance at Peter Gudge?
1920, Upton Sinclair, chapter 1, in 100%: The Story of a Patriot: