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Synonyms

flesh out

British  

verb

  1. (tr) to give substance to (an argument, description, etc)

  2. (intr) to expand or become more substantial

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
flesh out Idioms  

  1. Also, put flesh on the bones of. Give substance to, provide with details, amplify. For example, The editor told her to flesh out the story, or You need to put flesh on the bones of these characters. This metaphoric expression, alluding to clothing a nude body or adding flesh to a skeleton, was in the mid-1600s put simply as to flesh, the adverb out being added about two centuries later.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Trump says he will flesh out his housing affordability plan this coming week in a speech at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, which strikes some as a curious choice of venue.

From Barron's • Jan. 16, 2026

They flesh out the narrative just slightly enough not to feel entirely superfluous.

From Salon • Jan. 11, 2026

Few photos exist of his father in his 30s, meaning that he must have had to supply his own image to flesh out the memory.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

Together, these versatile actors help flesh out the Harlem neighborhood.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025

As I flesh out the day’s register, as I am tonight, I feel as if I am desperately prospecting for an alibi, one mine more than Kwang’s.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.