Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to bury the hatchet

to bury the hatchet

12 3.7
Make peace with someone after an argument
  • idiom
  • /ˈbɛri ðə ˈhæʧɪt/
  • Informal
translation icon : hacer las paces
  • After days of argument, they decided to bury the hatchet and work together again.
  • let's bury the hatchet
  • just bury the hatchet
  • want to bury the hatchet

Examples

Synonyms

to make up
vsto bury the hatchet
77 2.7

Become friends again after a fight

is the idiomatic informal alternative to the neutral phrase
to reconcile
vsto bury the hatchet
38 5.1

To become friendly again after a disagreement

is the informal idiom used instead of a formal expression
to patch up
vsto bury the hatchet
25 3.5

Make a relationship better after an argument or disagreement

suggests full peace rather than a temporary repair
to kiss and make up
vsto bury the hatchet
  • Informal
12 3.4

To become friendly again after an argument

focuses on making peace or agreement rather than closeness
to extend an olive branch
vsto bury the hatchet
  • Informal
2 4.2

Offer to make peace after an argument

seeks actual mutual peace rather than only offering to start talks
to squash the beef
vsto bury the hatchet
  • Slang
1 9.4

To end an argument and become friendly again

aims more to restore friendly relations rather than merely stopping the fight

Antonyms

quarrel
61 2.0

An angry argument between people who are usually friendly

to war
7 5.9

To fight a long armed conflict against another country or group

How Reconciled

to bury the hatchet
  • Informal
12 3.7
to reconcile
38 5.1
to make up
77 2.7
to patch up
25 3.5

Surface Forms

bury the hatchet infinitive
buried the hatchet past
buried the hatchet past participle
burying the hatchet present participle
buries the hatchet third person singular

Morphology

bury + the + hatchet

The literal components ('bury' + 'hatchet') evoke putting an object away, and there is a tangible metaphorical link (burying a weapon → ending hostilities). However, the idiomatic sense 'make peace/reconcile' relies on cultural/pragmatic knowledge and is not fully predictable from the words alone for an average B1 learner, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The idiom bury the hatchet comes from a simple image: people would bury a hatchet, a small axe, to show they would stop fighting. One popular story says leaders actually buried weapons as a promise of peace, so today the phrase means 'to make peace' after an argument.