to bury the hatchet

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.
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   2. Specifically, a tomahawk.
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            Buried was the bloody hatchet.        --Longfellow.
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   {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.
    

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.
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            And all their confidence
            Under the weight of mountains buried deep. --Milton.
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   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.
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            Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
                                                  --Matt. viii.
                                                  21.
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            I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave. --Shak.
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   3. To hide in oblivion; to put away finally; to abandon; as,
      to bury strife.
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            Give me a bowl of wine
            In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius. --Shak.
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   {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.
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   Syn: To intomb; inter; inhume; inurn; hide; cover; conceal;
        overwhelm; repress.
        [1913 Webster] Burying ground