Library / English Dictionary

FLESH OUT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become round, plump, or shapely

Example:

The young woman is fleshing out

Synonyms:

fill out; flesh out; round

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "flesh out" is one way to...):

gain; put on (increase (one's body weight))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing

Example:

She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation

Synonyms:

dilate; elaborate; enlarge; expand; expatiate; exposit; expound; flesh out; lucubrate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "flesh out" is one way to...):

clarify; clear up; elucidate (make clear and (more) comprehensible)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "flesh out"):

detail (provide details for)

exposit; expound; set forth (state)

exemplify; illustrate; instance (clarify by giving an example of)

particularise; particularize; specialise; specialize; specify (be specific about)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make fat or plump

Example:

We will plump out that poor starving child

Synonyms:

fat; fatten; fatten out; fatten up; fill out; flesh out; plump; plump out

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "flesh out" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

"Flesh out" entails doing...:

feed; give (give food to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

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