beat the bushes (for someone or something)
To search for someone or something exhaustively and at great length. I've been beating the bushes for a bigger apartment, but there's nothing out there I can afford! Come on, man, you've got to get out of here. The police are beating the bushes for you, and you're putting us all in danger by staying here! Well, you can beat the bushes all you want, but I really doubt you're going to find a used car at that low price point!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
beat the bushes
search thoroughly. North American informal This expression originates from the way in which hunters walk through undergrowth wielding long sticks which are used to force birds or animals out into the open where they can be shot or netted.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
beat the ˈbushes
(especially American English) try very hard to find, obtain or achieve something: Telephone companies are beating the bushes for new customers.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
beat the bushes
To make an exhaustive search.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.