come on, v.³ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

come on v.³

1. (also come on to) to approach sexually.

1937		R. Westerby Wide Boys Never Work (1938) 149: If you make a dead-line at six inches above the knees they always want to come on.
1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 174: Do you know about elephants, how they come on?
1958		E. Gilbert Vice Trap 30: She didn’t come on to [...] didn’t kiss me back.
1977		C. McFadden Serial 56: If I wore my tap-dancing shorts, Carol might think I was coming on.
1978		R. Price Ladies’ Man (1985) 228: When we were up in your crib Thursday night, it seemed like you were coming on to me.
1981		A.K. Shulman On the Stroll 35: She’d seen him [...] coming on to her French teacher, embarrassing her at school.
1996		P. Temple Bad Debts (2012) [ebook] She probably had a good laugh at being come on to by the likes of me.
2000		P. Howard Miseducation of Ross O’Carroll-Kelly (2004) 41: I told you before, she came on to me.
2000		W. Shaw Westsiders 313: Did you see that girl in the bodysuit? She was fucking coming on.
2002		C. Stella Jimmy Bench-Press 67: She came on to me. I fucked her.

2. (US) to joke.

1964

D. Stagg Glory Jumpers (1976) 64: What? Jump in France? Man, you’re coming on.

In phrases

come on the bounce (v.)

see under bounce n.¹

come on to (v.) [orig. jazz use]

1. (orig. US) to approach or speak to, to solicit.

1978

(con. 1966) J. Carroll The Basketball Diaries 146: We come right on to each other with all that ‘what’s happening? are you straight? something good?’ etc. junkie greetings.

2. to harass.

1992

in R. Graef Living Dangerously 153: He just kept coming on to me.

3. see sense 1 above.

come on v.3

In phrases

come on v.³