bury the hatchet

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

bur•y /ˈbɛri/   v. [~ + object] , -ied, -y•ing. 

1. to put (a dead body) in the ground or a vault, or into the sea, often with ceremony:
   buried next to his wife of fifty years.
2. to put in the ground and cover with earth:
   The treasure was buried in six feet of earth.
3. to cover with something:
   He was buried in the rubble of the building.
4. plunge into;
   sink into:
   [often: ~ + oneself/itself] The bullet had buried itself in the tree.
5. to conceal from sight;
   hide:
   to bury a card in the deck.
6. [~ + oneself] to be occupied in:
   He buried himself in his work.

Idioms

7. Idioms bury one's head in the sand, to ignore the facts of a situation:
   You have to take a stand on this issue and stop burying your head in the sand.
8. Idioms bury the hatchet, to stop fighting:
   decided to bury the hatchet and see if we could work together once more.

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

hatch•et /ˈhætʃɪt/   n. 

[countable]
1. Building a small, short-handled ax with one end of the head in a blade and the other in the shape of a hammer, made to be used with one hand.

Idioms

2. bury the hatchet, to put aside one's differences or disagreements;
   stop fighting:
   Let's bury the hatchet and be friends again.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

bur•y  (ber′ē), v., bur•ied, bur•y•ing, n., pl. bur•ies. 
v.t. 

1. to put in the ground and cover with earth:
   The pirates buried the chest on the island.
2. to put (a corpse) in the ground or a vault, or into the sea, often with ceremony:
   They buried the sailor with full military honors.
3. to plunge in deeply;
   cause to sink in:
   to bury an arrow in a target.
4. to cover in order to conceal from sight:
   She buried the card in the deck.
5. to immerse (oneself ):
   He buried himself in his work.
6. to put out of one's mind:
   to bury an insult.
7. to consign to obscurity;
   cause to appear insignificant by assigning to an unimportant location, position, etc.:
   Her name was buried in small print at the end of the book.
8. Idioms bury one's head in the sand, to avoid reality;
   ignore the facts of a situation:
   You cannot continue to bury your head in the sand—you must learn to face facts.
9. Idioms bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited.

n. 

10. Naval Terms [Naut.] housing¹ (def. 8a, b).

• bef. 1000; Middle English berien, buryen, Old English byrgan to bury, conceal; akin to Old English beorgan to hide, protect, preserve; cognate with Dutch, German bergen, Gothic bairgan, Old Norse bjarga

Synonyms

• 2. inter, entomb, inhume.
• 4. hide, secrete.

Antonyms

• 2. disinter, exhume.
• 4. uncover.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

hatch•et  (hach′it), n. 

1. Building a small, short-handled ax having the end of the head opposite the blade in the form of a hammer, made to be used with one hand. See illus. under ax. 
2. a tomahawk.
3. Fish hatchetfish.
4. Idioms bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited;
   make peace.
5. Idioms take up the hatchet, to begin or resume hostilities;
   prepare for or go to war:
   The natives are taking up the hatchet against the enemy.

v.t. 

6. to cut, destroy, kill, etc., with a hatchet.
7. to abridge, delete, excise, etc.:
   The network censor may hatchet 30 minutes from the script.

• Frankish *hapja kind of knife; akin to Greek kóptein to cut (compare comma, syncope)
• Middle French hachette, diminutive (see -et) of hache ax
• 1300–50; 1670–80, American. for def. 4; Middle English hachet

hatch′et•like′, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

hatchet / ˈhætʃɪt/ noun

1. a short axe used for chopping wood, etc
2. a tomahawk
3. (modifier) of narrow dimensions and sharp features: a hatchet face
4. bury the hatchet ⇒ to cease hostilities and become reconciled

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French hachette, from hache axe, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German happa knife