A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

beat about the bush • beat the bush
beat about the bush —(also: beat around the bush) approach
the subject indirectly; refuse to come to the point: Why should
you beat about the bush when asking for better wages?
be welcome
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beat the bush —(also: beat the bushes)
1
. search through all
likely areas: Pennsylvania hunters have been accustomed to
beating the bush in search of bucks. 2. try hard to get or
achieve smth.: A few years ago everyone was beating the bushes
for top properties in Santiago.
beat it • it beats me
beat it—
1
. (sl., often imper.) go away immediately: Mike
yelled at them and told them to beat it. He then returned to
comfort his children. 2. (coll.) surpass or do better: Tell the
dealer what you’ve already secured in terms of the interest rate
and ask if he can beat it. Cf.: you can’t beat it— said of smth. of
the highest quality and unlikely to be surpassed: We have an ap-
preciation for good food, and you can’t beat it in places like
Trattoria Milanese.
it beats me —(coll., also: it beats my time) it surpasses my un-
derstanding; it leaves me puzzled: It beats me how this pres-
tigious project can be awarded to such a poor architect.
beat one’s brains out • blow one’s brains out
beat one’s brains out—
1
. (also: dash one’s brains out) kill one-
self by smashing one’s head: There would be nothing to stop
me from plunging down the well of the staircase and beating
my brains out. 2. (coll.) think hard; struggle with a difficult
task (also: beat one’s brains): I’ve been beating my brains out
all day over that report.
blow one’s brains out—(coll.) kill oneself by shooting in the
head: When his wife left him, Peter thought there was nothing
left for him to do but blow his brains out.