mend fences

English

Verb

mend fences (third-person singular simple present mends fences, present participle mending fences, simple past and past participle mended fences)

1. (idiomatic) 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.

   • 2009, Elinor Lipman, The Family Man, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 23:

     And furthermore, just because I agree to take a walk doesn't mean we've mended fences. But he doesn't pick up.

   • 2014 September 3, Justin McCurry, “Japan's Shinzo Abe appoints pro-China MPs in bid to mend fences with Beijing”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has signalled a rare attempt to mend fences with China when he appointed two MPs considered friendly towards Beijing to two senior posts in his governing Liberal Democratic party (LDP).

   • 2024 May 4, Simon Tisdall, “Giorgia Meloni and Ursula von der Leyen, the double act that is steering the EU ever rightwards”, in The Observer‎^[2], →ISSN:

     She [Meloni] has reduced Italy’s dealings with China, too – and helped mend fences with Orbán.

Related terms

• fence-mending

Translations

Translations

• Spanish: limar asperezas