beat the bushes

== English == === Etymology === Both beat the bushes and scare up have figurative senses, referring to traversing the landscape seeking difficult-to-find things, that arose by extension from their senses referring to driving game out of the bush when hunting. === Verb === beat the bushes (third-person singular simple present beats the bushes, present participle beating the bushes, simple past beat the bushes, past participle beaten the bushes or (colloquial) beat the bushes) (idiomatic, Canada, US) Synonym of pound the pavement (“to campaign diligently; to seek something”). ==== Related terms ==== beat around the bush ==== See also ==== scare up