flesh out

verb

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

2. (intr) to expand or become more substantial

Idioms and Phrases

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

The meeting will cap off a week of negotiations between U.S. officials and their Asian counterparts as they try to flesh out preliminary trade pacts struck in recent months.

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Springsteen was planning to flesh out the “Nebraska” demos with his band in New York, and spent a lot of time doing various versions of the songs, but didn’t like the feel of them.

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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.

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

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Secondly, Keir Starmer and his European colleagues want to flesh out details of what they hope will be "ironclad" security guarantees - measures to protect and defend Ukraine in the event a peace deal is struck.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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