flesh

[flesh] /flɛʃ/
noun
1.
the soft substance of a human or other animal body, consisting of muscle and fat.
2.
muscular and fatty tissue.
3.
this substance or tissue in animals, viewed as an article of food, usually excluding fish and sometimes fowl; meat.
4.
fatness; weight.
5.
the body, especially as distinguished from the spirit or soul:
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
6.
the physical or animal nature of humankind as distinguished from its moral or spiritual nature:
the needs of the flesh.
7.
humankind.
8.
living creatures generally.
9.
a person's family or relatives.
10.
Botany. the soft, pulpy portion of a fruit, vegetable, etc., as distinguished from the core, skin, shell, etc.
11.
the surface of the human body; skin:
A person with tender flesh should not expose it to direct sunlight.
12.
flesh color.
verb (used with object)
13.
to plunge (a weapon) into the flesh.
14.
Hunting. to feed (a hound or hawk) with flesh in order to make it more eager for the chase.
Compare blood (def 16).
15.
to incite and accustom (persons) to bloodshed or battle by an initial experience.
16.
to inflame the ardor or passions of by a foretaste.
17.
to overlay or cover (a skeleton or skeletal frame) with flesh or with a fleshlike substance.
18.
to give dimension, substance, or reality to (often followed by out):
The playwright wrote pretty good characters, but the actors really fleshed them out.
19.
to remove adhering flesh from (hides), in leather manufacture.
20.
Archaic. to satiate with flesh or fleshly enjoyments; surfeit; glut.
Verb phrases
21.
flesh out,
  1. to gain weight:
    He realized to his dismay that he had fleshed out during the months of forced inactivity.
  2. to add details to or make more complete:
    She fleshed out her proposal considerably before presenting it to the committee for action.
Idioms
22.
in the flesh, present and alive before one's eyes; in person:
The movie star looked quite different in the flesh.
23.
pound of flesh, something that strict justice demands is due, but can only be paid with great loss or suffering to the payer.
24.
press the flesh, Informal. to shake hands, as with voters while campaigning:
The senator is busy as ever pressing the flesh on the campaign trail.
Origin
before 900; Middle English flesc, Old English flǣsc; cognate with Old Frisian flēsk, Old High German fleisk (German Fleisch), Old Norse flesk bacon
Related forms
fleshless, adjective
Examples from the web for flesh out
  • These tidbits of knowledge are important, if you want to flesh out your mental map of the world and its people.
  • The digit is also useful for scooping the flesh out of coconuts and other fruits that supplement the animal's insect diet.
  • He explained how he dissects them to examine soft tissues and how he uses his findings to flesh out model dinosaur heads.
  • It may take a full page of the syllabus to complete flesh out your policy on late work and makeups.
  • Players can also use this to talk to other characters and flesh out the story.
  • With a spoon, scoop the flesh out of the squash into the bowl of a food processor.
  • But more research will be needed to flesh out the relationship between pollution, inflammation, and diabetes.
  • The items provide glimpses behind the scenes that flesh out the reader's sense of a major story.
  • It's more a matter of rooting for performers who know how to flesh out two-dimensional characters.
  • Before you can flesh out the details of your reporting project, you'll need to decide how involved in the process you want to be.
British Dictionary definitions for flesh out

flesh out

verb (adverb)
1.
(transitive) to give substance to (an argument, description, etc)
2.
(intransitive) to expand or become more substantial

flesh

/flɛʃ/
noun
1.
the soft part of the body of an animal or human, esp muscular tissue, as distinct from bone and viscera related adjective sarcoid
2.
(informal) excess weight; fat
3.
(archaic) the edible tissue of animals as opposed to that of fish or, sometimes, fowl; meat
4.
the thick usually soft part of a fruit or vegetable, as distinct from the skin, core, stone, etc
5.
the human body and its physical or sensual nature as opposed to the soul or spirit related adjective carnal
6.
mankind in general
7.
animate creatures in general
8.
one's own family; kin (esp in the phrase one's own flesh and blood)
9.
a yellowish-pink to greyish-yellow colour
10.
(Christian Science) belief on the physical plane which is considered erroneous, esp the belief that matter has sensation
11.
(modifier) (tanning) of or relating to the inner or under layer of a skin or hide: a flesh split
12.
in the flesh, in person; actually present
13.
make one's flesh creep, (esp of something ghostly) to frighten and horrify one
14.
(informal) press the flesh, to shake hands, usually with large numbers of people, esp in political campaigning
verb
15.
(transitive) (hunting) to stimulate the hunting instinct of (hounds or falcons) by giving them small quantities of raw flesh
16.
to wound the flesh of with a weapon
17.
(archaic or poetic) to accustom or incite to bloodshed or battle by initial experience
18.
(tanning) to remove the flesh layer of (a hide or skin)
19.
to fatten; fill out
Word Origin
Old English flǣsc; related to Old Norse flesk ham, Old High German fleisk meat, flesh
Word Origin and History for flesh out

flesh

n.

Old English flæsc "flesh, meat," also "near kindred" (a sense now obsolete except in phrase flesh and blood), common West and North Germanic (cf. Old Frisian flesk, Middle Low German vlees, German Fleisch "flesh," Old Norse flesk "pork, bacon"), of uncertain origin, perhaps from Proto-Germanic *flaiskoz-.

Figurative use for "animal or physical nature of man" (Old English) is from the Bible, especially Paul's use of Greek sarx, which yielded sense of "sensual appetites" (c.1200). Flesh-wound is from 1670s; flesh-color, the hue of "Caucasian" skin, is first recorded 1610s, described as a tint composed of "a light pink with a little yellow" [O'Neill, "Dyeing," 1862]. An Old English poetry-word for "body" was flæsc-hama, literally "flesh-home."

v.

1520s, "to render (a hunting animal) eager for prey by rewarding it with flesh from a kill," with figurative extensions, from flesh (n.). Meaning "to clothe or embody with flesh," with figurative extensions, is from 1660s. Related: Fleshed; fleshing.

flesh out in Medicine

flesh (flěsh)
n.
The soft tissue of the body of a vertebrate, covering the bones and consisting mainly of skeletal muscle and fat.

flesh'y adj.
Slang definitions & phrases for flesh out

flesh

Related Terms

in the flesh, press the flesh


flesh out in the Bible

in the Old Testament denotes (1) a particular part of the body of man and animals (Gen. 2:21; 41:2; Ps. 102:5, marg.); (2) the whole body (Ps. 16:9); (3) all living things having flesh, and particularly humanity as a whole (Gen. 6:12, 13); (4) mutability and weakness (2 Chr. 32:8; comp. Isa. 31:3; Ps. 78:39). As suggesting the idea of softness it is used in the expression "heart of flesh" (Ezek. 11:19). The expression "my flesh and bone" (Judg. 9:2; Isa. 58:7) denotes relationship. In the New Testament, besides these it is also used to denote the sinful element of human nature as opposed to the "Spirit" (Rom. 6:19; Matt. 16:17). Being "in the flesh" means being unrenewed (Rom. 7:5; 8:8, 9), and to live "according to the flesh" is to live and act sinfully (Rom. 8:4, 5, 7, 12). This word also denotes the human nature of Christ (John 1:14, "The Word was made flesh." Comp. also 1 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 1:3).

Idioms and Phrases with flesh out

flesh out

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.

flesh

also see: