to beat about the bush

Beat \Beat\, v. i.
   1. To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated blows; to knock
      vigorously or loudly.
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            The men of the city . . . beat at the door.
                                                  --Judges. xix.
                                                  22.
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   2. To move with pulsation or throbbing.
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            A thousand hearts beat happily.       --Byron.
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   3. To come or act with violence; to dash or fall with force;
      to strike anything, as rain, wind, and waves do.
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            Sees rolling tempests vainly beat below. --Dryden.
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            They [winds] beat at the crazy casement.
                                                  --Longfellow.
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            The sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he
            fainted, and wished in himself to die. --Jonah iv.
                                                  8.
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            Public envy seemeth to beat chiefly upon ministers.
                                                  --Bacon.
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   4. To be in agitation or doubt. [Poetic]
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            To still my beating mind.             --Shak.
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   5. (Naut.) To make progress against the wind, by sailing in a
      zigzag line or traverse.
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   6. To make a sound when struck; as, the drums beat.
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   7. (Mil.) To make a succession of strokes on a drum; as, the
      drummers beat to call soldiers to their quarters.
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   8. (Acoustics & Mus.) To sound with more or less rapid
      alternations of greater and less intensity, so as to
      produce a pulsating effect; -- said of instruments, tones,
      or vibrations, not perfectly in unison.
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   {A beating wind} (Naut.), a wind which necessitates tacking
      in order to make progress.

   {To beat about}, to try to find; to search by various means
      or ways. --Addison.

   {To beat about the bush}, to approach a subject circuitously.
      

   {To beat up and down} (Hunting), to run first one way and
      then another; -- said of a stag.

   {To beat up for recruits}, to go diligently about in order to
      get helpers or participators in an enterprise.

   {To beat the rap}, to be acquitted of an accusation; --
      especially, by some sly or deceptive means, rather than to
      be proven innocent.
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Bush \Bush\ (b[.u]sh), n. [OE. bosch, busch, buysch, bosk, busk;
   akin to D. bosch, OHG. busc, G. busch, Icel. b[=u]skr,
   b[=u]ski, Dan. busk, Sw. buske, and also to LL. boscus,
   buscus, Pr. bosc, It. bosco, Sp. & Pg. bosque, F. bois, OF.
   bos. Whether the LL. or G. form is the original is uncertain;
   if the LL., it is perh. from the same source as E. box a
   case. Cf. {Ambush}, {Boscage}, {Bouquet}, {Box} a case.]
   1. A thicket, or place abounding in trees or shrubs; a wild
      forest.
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   Note: This was the original sense of the word, as in the
         Dutch bosch, a wood, and was so used by Chaucer. In
         this sense it is extensively used in the British
         colonies, especially at the Cape of Good Hope, and also
         in Australia and Canada; as, to live or settle in the
         bush.
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   2. A shrub; esp., a shrub with branches rising from or near
      the root; a thick shrub or a cluster of shrubs.
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            To bind a bush of thorns among sweet-smelling
            flowers.                              --Gascoigne.
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   3. A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree; as,
      bushes to support pea vines.
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   4. A shrub or branch, properly, a branch of ivy (as sacred to
      Bacchus), hung out at vintners' doors, or as a tavern
      sign; hence, a tavern sign, and symbolically, the tavern
      itself.
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            If it be true that good wine needs no bush, 't is
            true that a good play needs no epilogue. --Shak.
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   5. (Hunting) The tail, or brush, of a fox.
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   {To beat about the bush}, to approach anything in a
      round-about manner, instead of coming directly to it; -- a
      metaphor taken from hunting.

   {Bush bean} (Bot.), a variety of bean which is low and
      requires no support ({Phaseolus vulgaris}, variety nanus).
      See {Bean}, 1.

   {Bush buck}, or {Bush goat} (Zool.), a beautiful South
      African antelope ({Tragelaphus sylvaticus}); -- so called
      because found mainly in wooden localities. The name is
      also applied to other species.

   {Bush cat} (Zool.), the serval. See {Serval}.

   {Bush chat} (Zool.), a bird of the genus {Pratincola}, of the
      Thrush family.

   {Bush dog}. (Zool.) See {Potto}.

   {Bush hammer}. See {Bushhammer} in the Vocabulary.

   {Bush harrow} (Agric.) See under {Harrow}.

   {Bush hog} (Zool.), a South African wild hog
      ({Potamoch[oe]rus Africanus}); -- called also {bush pig},
      and {water hog}.

   {Bush master} (Zool.), a venomous snake ({Lachesis mutus}) of
      Guinea; -- called also {surucucu}.

   {Bush pea} (Bot.), a variety of pea that needs to be bushed.
      

   {Bush shrike} (Zool.), a bird of the genus {Thamnophilus},
      and allied genera; -- called also {batarg}. Many species
      inhabit tropical America.

   {Bush tit} (Zool.), a small bird of the genus {Psaltriparus},
      allied to the titmouse. {Psaltriparus minimus} inhabits
      California.
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