4 definitions found for beat around the bush

beat around the bush v 1: be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information [syn: beat around the bush, equivocate, tergiversate, prevaricate, palter]

beat around the bush See: BEAT ABOUT THE BUSH. v. phr., slang To talk about things without giving a clear answer; avoid the question or the point. He would not answer yes or no, but beat about the bush. He beat about the bush for a half hour without coming to the point. Compare: BESIDE THE POINT. Contrast: COME TO THE POINT.

beat around the bush phrasal see beat about the bush

47 Moby Thesaurus words for "beat around the bush": about the bush, around the bush, beat about, beat around, beg the question, bicker, boggle, cavil, choplogic, circumlocute, dodge, duck, equivocate, evade, evade the issue, fence, go round about, hedge, hem and haw, mystify, nitpick, obscure, palter, parry, periphrase, pick nits, prevaricate, pull away, pull back, pussyfoot, put off, quibble, recoil, sheer off, shift, shift off, shrink, shuffle, shy, shy away, shy off, sidestep, split hairs, step aside, swerve, tergiversate, ward off