bury the hatchet

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To cease fighting or arguing; to reach an agreement, or at least a truce.

Pronunciation

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bury the hatchet.wav

Word forms

bury the hatchet buries the hatchet burying the hatchet buried the hatchet

Etymology

The phrase is an allusion to the figurative or literal practice of putting away the tomahawk at the cessation of hostilities among or by Native Americans in the Eastern United States, specifically during the formation of the Iroquois Confederacy, and in Iroquois custom in general. Weapons were to be buried or otherwise cached in time of peace.

Related words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.