I tend to use them interchangeably. To me, flushed-out can mean two things:
1) Remove from hiding. Like, "I flushed out a pheasant from the corn."
2) Give something more substance so that it's equal in size or position. Like bringing two objects flush with one another would be flushing them out.
When I do use "fleshed-out", I only use it for #2. However...
Dictionary.com agrees with that assessment as well.
I disagree. To me, flushed out is to remove or purge something, like flushing the toilet. Example: The dog will 'flush-out' the rabbits from the hole. To me, 'flesh-out', as you say is to give something more substance, or flesh. My girlfriend (the walking dictionary.com) agrees!
Maybe it's a British vs American thing?
Yeah, what Charlie said. "Flushed out" is to reveal something previously hidden. "Fleshed out" is to add substance. "Flushed out the characters?" Wrong wrong wrong.
"Over the weekend, I flushed out a batch of problems in my design by fleshing out the UI."
Your #2 definition, as written, sounds like a construction-specific term, maybe regional. It'd have to be so regional or industry-specific that I've never heard it used in that sense fifty miles from you, though.
When I first read it, it reminded me of "facing" shelves at the grocery store when I was young. We may have stuck the "out" on the end; "Hey, Chuck, when you're done with that go face out the cereal aisle."
Oh, I agree, I'm using flushed-out in the wrong way. But it certainly is a word -- as people have pointed out -- you flush out something when you reveal it.
Strange, Lis just pointed out a bug in my blog software. You can see more of the entry on the main page than you can in the "long" view. But it only seems to happen with this entry. Weird!