beat the bushes (for someone or something)
(redirected from beat the bush)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!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
beat the bushes for
Look everywhere for something or someone, as in I've been beating the bushes for a substitute but haven't had any luck. This term originally alluded to hunting, when beaters were hired to flush birds out of the brush. [1400s] Also see beat around the bush.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
beat the bushes
search thoroughly. North American informalThis 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.
beat the bushes for, to
To seek out assiduously. The term comes from hunting, in the days when beaters were employed to flush birds out for a hunting party, and has been used in its literal sense since the fifteenth century.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer