'To bury the hatchet' definitions:

Definition of 'To bury the hatchet'

From: GCIDE
  • Hatchet \Hatch"et\ (-[e^]t), n. [F. hachette, dim. of hache ax. See 1st Hatch, Hash.]
  • 1. A small ax with a short handle, to be used with one hand. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Specifically, a tomahawk. [1913 Webster]
  • Buried was the bloody hatchet. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]
  • hatchet face, a thin, sharp face, like the edge of a hatchet; hence:
  • hatchet-faced, sharp-visaged. --Dryden.
  • To bury the hatchet, to make peace or become reconciled.
  • To take up the hatchet, to make or declare war. The last two phrases are derived from the practice of the American Indians.

Definition of 'To bury the hatchet'

From: GCIDE
  • Bury \Bur"y\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buried; p. pr. & vb. n. Burying.] [OE. burien, birien, berien, AS. byrgan; akin to beorgan to protect, OHG. bergan, G. bergen, Icel. bjarga, Sw. berga, Dan. bierge, Goth. ba['i]rgan. [root]95. Cf. Burrow.]
  • 1. To cover out of sight, either by heaping something over, or by placing within something, as earth, etc.; to conceal by covering; to hide; as, to bury coals in ashes; to bury the face in the hands. [1913 Webster]
  • And all their confidence Under the weight of mountains buried deep. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Specifically: To cover out of sight, as the body of a deceased person, in a grave, a tomb, or the ocean; to deposit (a corpse) in its resting place, with funeral ceremonies; to inter; to inhume. [1913 Webster]
  • Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. --Matt. viii. 21. [1913 Webster]
  • I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To hide in oblivion; to put away finally; to abandon; as, to bury strife. [1913 Webster]
  • Give me a bowl of wine In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Burying beetle (Zool.), the general name of many species of beetles, of the tribe Necrophaga; the sexton beetle; -- so called from their habit of burying small dead animals by digging away the earth beneath them. The larv[ae] feed upon decaying flesh, and are useful scavengers.
  • To bury the hatchet, to lay aside the instruments of war, and make peace; -- a phrase used in allusion to the custom observed by the North American Indians, of burying a tomahawk when they conclude a peace. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: To intomb; inter; inhume; inurn; hide; cover; conceal; overwhelm; repress. [1913 Webster] Burying ground