mend fences
To repair damage to a friendship or relationship after a disagreement or other mishap.
I don't think he was very happy with my work, so I'm going to talk to him and try to mend fences.
mend
/mɛnd/
verb 5noun 4
Collocations
4ADJ.
late, right
VERB + MEND
asked, cannot, cost, don't, feel, got, love, need
MEND + NOUN
carpet, fuse, garment, it's, life, shirt, shoes, skirt
PREP.
on, with
Definitions
verb
1
To physically repair (something that is broken, defaced, decayed, torn, or otherwise damaged).
My trousers have a big rip in them and need mending.
When your car breaks down, you can take it to the garage to have it mended.
2
To add fuel to (a fire).
[I]n, you Rogue, and vvipe the pigges, and mend the fire, that they fall not, or I'le both baſte and roaſt you, till your eyes drop out, like 'hem.
He mended the fire and turned the meat on the greenwood racks.
3
To correct or put right (an error, a fault, etc.); to rectify, to remedy.
Dro[mio of Syracuse]. […] [S]he ſvveats a man may goe ouer-ſhooes in the grime of it. / Anti[pholus of Syracuse]. That's a fault that vvater vvill mend.
[Y]ou muſt examine vvhere the fault is, and taking the Pin out mend the fault in the Joynt.
4
To put (something) in a better state; to ameliorate, to improve, to reform, to set right.
Her stutter was mended by a speech therapist.
My broken heart was mended.
5
To remove fault or sin from (someone, or their behaviour or character); to improve morally, to reform.
Youle not endure him, god ſhall mend my ſoule, / Youle make a mutinie among my gueſts: […]
I vvould thou vvert a mans tailer, that thou mightſt mend him and make him fit to goe, I cannot put him to a priuate ſouldier, that is the leader of ſo many thouſands, […]
noun
1
Senses relating to improvement or repairing.
My trousers have a big rip in them and need a mend.
2
Senses relating to improvement or repairing.
3
Senses relating to improvement or repairing.
Though he was fearfully weak, he found himself actually feeling better. The disease had spent itself, and the mend had begun.
4
Recompense; restoration or reparation, especially (Christianity) from sin.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
verb — heal or recover
Idioms & Phrases
make do and mend
To follow a philosophy, during World War II, of repairing clothes etc that would normally be discarded due to shortages and rationing.
The 'make do and mend' campaign was the Board of Trade's central propaganda effort directed at housewives. It gave advice on preservation, renovation, and repair of clothing and ot
it's never too late to mend
One is never too old to change one's ways; learning is always possible.
mend one's ways
To recognise one's failings and attempt to remedy them.
hell mend someone
Expressing exasperation at someone whose behavior is likely to result in trouble but who will not heed warnings.
'You do not want to look after yourself at all. You want Roderick Peters to look after you. Well, hell mend you, Nicola, hell mend you,' Charlotte snapped ...
Example Bank
601
My trousers have a big rip in them and need mending.
Wiktionary02
When your car breaks down, you can take it to the garage to have it mended.
Wiktionary03
[H]e [Jesus] ſawe other two brethren, James the ſonne of Zebede, and Jhon his brother, in the ſhip with Zebede their father, mendynge their nettes, and called them. And they without tarynge lefte yͤ ſ
Wiktionary04
My trousers have a big rip in them and need a mend.
Wiktionary05
Though he was fearfully weak, he found himself actually feeling better. The disease had spent itself, and the mend had begun.
Wiktionary06
It is never too late to mend.
Tatoeba · #22274Usage Notes
i Register
In some senses, mend is marked as figuratively, obsolete. Watch for register when choosing this word.
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