flesh out

/flɛʃ aʊt/

Other forms: fleshing out; fleshes out

When you flesh out an argument or an idea, you add more details to it, giving it more substance. Your English teacher might ask you to flesh out the rough draft of your essay.

While it's possible to flesh out a speech or a conversation, it's more common to find this phrase referring to written work. A poet's editor might tell her to flesh out a certain section of a poem, or you might flesh out the core of your argument in a story you hope to publish in a magazine. Flesh out is believed to come from the idea of adding flesh, physical substance, to a skeleton or a frame.

Definitions of flesh out

1. verb

   add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing
   synonyms: dilate, elaborate, enlarge, expand, expatiate, exposit, expound

   types:

   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

   depict, describe, draw

   give a description of

   premise

   set forth beforehand, often as an explanation

   spell out

   make explicit; specify in detail

   type of:

   clarify, clear up, elucidate

   make clear and (more) comprehensible
2. verb

   make fat or plump
   synonyms: fat, fatten, fatten out, fatten up, fill out, plump, plump out

   type of:

   alter, change, modify

   cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
3. verb

   become round, plump, or shapely
   synonyms: fill out, round

   type of:

   gain, put on

   increase (one's body weight)