pick-up line

• pick up line, pickup line

pick-up line (plural pick-up lines)

1. A short introduction or comment intended to garner romantic or sexual interest from a stranger.

   Synonyms: (chiefly UK) chat-up line, opener

   Freddie has a new pick-up line for every girl he meets in the bar, but he always goes home alone.

   • 2013 July 2, Stuart Heritage, “Pickup lines: tell us your best – and the worst you've ever heard”, in The Guardian‎:

     Obviously, the real skill of the pickup line is to possess a moronic amount of self-belief […] but it's worth persevering with. Rod Stewart, for example, puts his 30-year run of successful pickups down to a curious "What have you got in that handbag?", […]

• pickup artist