beat the bushes en · VERB
Etymology
Both beat the bushes and scare up have figurative senses, referring to traversing the landscape seeking difficult-to-find things, that arose by extension from their senses referring to driving game out of the bush when hunting.
Meanings
-
(Canada, US, idiomatic) Synonym of pound the pavement (“to campaign diligently; to seek something”).
They started beating the bushes in search of a commercially available solvent that would aid their manufacturing but wouldn't be too horribly toxic and wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| beating the bushes | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| beat the bushes | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | colloquial | lexicographic |
| beat the bushes | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| beats the bushes | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| beaten the bushes | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Relateds
beat around the bush · scare up