bury the hatchet
End the feud
To bury the hatchet is to end a conflict and make peace, especially after a prolonged dispute: After years of feuding, the two families finally buried the hatchet.
The phrase evokes a Native American practice of literally burying weapons to signal the end of hostilities.
It implies deliberate choice to stop fighting rather than gradual reconciliation.
- forgiveCease to blame
- turn the other cheekRefuse to retaliate
- patch upRepair roughly or reconcile
- handshakeMutual palm-gripping gesture
- reconcileResolve a disagreement
clear the air · olive branch · make up · let bygones be bygones · water under the bridge · rapprochement · mend fences · settle · amends · reunite · truce · call a truce · apology · enemies · resolution · bygones · accord · wounds
- Old Idiomsbeyond the pale, hue and cry, scot-free, knight in shining armor, eat humble pie
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- reconciliationreconciliation, reconcile, reconciled, reconciling, making up
- conflictclash, fight, war, battle, dispute
- compromisecompromise, middle ground, meet halfway, give and take, give-and-take
- harmony phrasesin sync, in tune, on the same page, see eye to eye, hand in hand
bury the hatchetfan the flames
Deliberately worsen a dispute
stir up trouble · reopen old wounds · declare war · pick a fight · keep fighting
bury the hatchethold a grudge
Maintain lasting resentment
bear a grudge · fester · keep score · reopen old wounds · rake over old coals
peace, bury, buried, burial, burying, hatchet, buries, burials