Flesh Out vs. Flush Out
The phrases flesh out and flush out are often misused. Both of these phrases are idioms, meaning phrases that have a meaning that cannot be entirely determined from the words that make them up. Let's take a few moments to flesh out the differences between the two.
Flesh out is an idiomatic expression that means to add substance to. You can think of adding "flesh" to a skeleton-it adds substance on top of the bones.
1. While the draft of your essay is good, you really need to flesh out your argument by adding some additional support for your points.
2. Caroline and I are meeting today to flesh out the details of our presentation for the conference on Thursday.
3. The school administrators realize that there is a need to flesh out the details of a plan to address the overcrowding in the parking lot when students are arriving each morning.
Flush out is also an idiomatic expression that means to cause someone or something to leave its hiding place. This term is often used in hunting.
1. The hunters used the dogs to flush out the birds.
2. General Martin entered the room and began to detail the plans to flush out the enemy soldiers.
3. During a game of hide and seek, Allen and Rachel teamed up to flush out the remaining children.
These two phrases mean vastly different things, but they are confused by people who have heard them used but do not completely understand what they mean. You can easily remember their differences by thinking about "flesh" as adding substance to a skeleton.
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