Word.ws English Dictionary

beats around the bush

beats around the bush is the third-person singular simple present indicative of beat around the bush.

Meaning of beat around the bush

Verb

beat around the bush (third-person singular simple present beats around the bush, present participle beating around the bush, simple past beat around the bush or (nonstandard) beated around the bush, past participle beaten around the bush or (colloquial) beat around the bush or (nonstandard) beated around the bush)

  1. (idiomatic) To treat a topic, but omit its main points, often intentionally.
  2. (idiomatic) To delay or avoid talking about something difficult or unpleasant.
    • Just stop beating around the bush and tell me what the problem is!

Questions about beats around the bush

What is beats around the bush the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Beats around the bush is the third-person singular simple present indicative of beat around the bush.

Words near beats around the bush in the dictionary

  1. beats a dead horse
  2. beats a hasty retreat
  3. beats about
  4. beats about the bush
  5. beats all
  6. beats around the bush
  7. beats as one
  8. beats back
  9. beats Banaghan
  10. beats down
  11. beats feet

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: beats around the bush (page history and authors); beat around the bush (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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