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beat the bushes

bush
B b

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [boo sh]
    • /bʊʃ/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [boo sh]
    • /bʊʃ/

Definitions of beat the bushes words

  • noun beat the bushes a low plant with many branches that arise from or near the ground. 1
  • noun beat the bushes a small cluster of shrubs appearing as a single plant. 1
  • noun beat the bushes something resembling or suggesting this, as a thick, shaggy head of hair. 1
  • noun beat the bushes Also called bush lot. Canadian. a small, wooded lot, especially a farm lot with trees left standing to provide firewood, fence posts, etc. 1
  • noun beat the bushes the tail of a fox; brush. 1
  • noun beat the bushes Geography. a stretch of uncultivated land covered with mixed plant growth, bushy vegetation, trees, etc. 1
See all 18 definitions of beat the bushes

Information block about the term

Origin of beat the bushes

First appearance:

before 1000
One of the 6% oldest English words
before 1000; Middle English busshe, Old English busc (in place-names); cognate with Dutch bos wood, German Busch, Old Norse buskr bush

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Beat the bushes

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Beat the bushes

beat the bushes popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 98% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

beat the bushes usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for beat the bushes

verb beat the bushes

  • forage — food for horses or cattle; fodder; provender.
  • search — to go or look through (a place, area, etc.) carefully in order to find something missing or lost: They searched the woods for the missing child. I searched the desk for the letter.
  • nose around — pry, snoop
  • poke around — to prod or push, especially with something narrow or pointed, as a finger, elbow, stick, etc.: to poke someone in the ribs.
All 4 Synonyms of beat the bushes

See also

Matching words

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