Sometimes after a fight when both parties have settled down, one of them will feint an attack trying to make the other flinch. I'm looking for word or phrase (a verb) that could describe that as succinctly as possible.
When he walked past Owen, he lurched (or _______) at him. Owen stood his ground staring defiantly at the tattooed man.
The word “lurch" doesn't convey the element of deceit I am looking for.
I am willing to accept other parts of speech (e.g., nouns like “stratagem” or “trickery”)
You've already used the most idiomatic word: it's a feint:
deceive by a mock action
Near the brush fence two roosters bowed and feinted at each other with squared wings and neck feathers ruffed out.
I don't think there is a single word but you are allowing a phrase.
When he walked past Owen, he made as if to attack him.
When he walked past Owen, he faked a lunge at him.
When he walked past Owen, he gave a fake lunge at him.
When he walked past Owen, he made a mock lunge at him.
When he walked past Owen, he threw a dummy (punch) at him.
Boxing: Feint: Faking or feinting a punch is used to make an opponent unnecessarily react, or to gauge his response so that it throws him off his game or makes him commit to a false move. https://www.titleboxing.com/boxing-dictionary
________where it would go. Second, please present your research into this by showing us which possible terms you discovered but discarded, and tell us why you found each of those inappropriate for your purposes.