Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

beat the bushes

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.56 in modern English

Syllables: beat- the bush-es
IPA

23

Scrabble Score

13

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

Synonym of pound the pavement (“to campaign diligently; to seek something”).

Canadian usage; American usage

Example Sentences

"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."

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.

Usage

Canadian usage
American usage

Inflected Forms

beats the bushes (present, singular) beating the bushes (participle, present) beaten the bushes (participle, past)

Phrases

beat around the bush scare up

Frequently Paired Words

beat around the bush scare up

Synonyms

pound the pavement

Questions

What does beat the bushes mean?: Synonym of pound the pavement (“to campaign diligently; to seek something”).
Where does beat the bushes come from?: 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.

How to pronounce beat the bushes

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