Meaning & use
extending an olive branch
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Meaning
phraseidiomfigurative
Making a friendly offer or gesture to someone you have argued with, in order to end the quarrel and restore good relations.
Grammar: Appears as 'extend an olive branch (to someone)'; the -ing form works as a noun phrase: Extending an olive branch takes courage.
Patterns
- extend an olive branch to someone
- extend an olive branch after something
By extending an olive branch to her old rival, she hoped the team could finally work together.
He was extending an olive branch when he invited his brother to dinner after years of silence.
Extending an olive branch is often the hardest part of making up after a fight.
Common combinations
- extend an olive branch to
- The company extended an olive branch to the striking workers.
- offer an olive branch
- She offered an olive branch by apologizing first.
- accept an olive branch
- He accepted the olive branch and shook her hand.
- reject an olive branch
- The council rejected the olive branch as insincere.
- a peace offering
- The gift basket was meant as a peace offering after the argument.
Synonyms and how they differ
- making peace
- Making peace describes the whole act of ending a conflict, while extending an olive branch is only the first friendly step toward it.
- making a conciliatory gesture
- This is a more formal, literal way to say the same thing and lacks the vivid image of the idiom.
- burying the hatchet
- Burying the hatchet means both sides agree to stop fighting, whereas extending an olive branch is one side's offer that may be refused.
- holding out a hand
- Holding out a hand is more informal and personal, and can also just mean offering help rather than ending a quarrel.
Opposites
Word family
- olive branch noun
- the symbol or the gesture of peace
- extend verb
- to offer or give something to someone
- extension noun
- the act of offering or stretching something
- conciliation noun
- the act of calming anger and ending a dispute
Commonly confused: extending an olive branch or burying the hatchet?
extending an olive branch vs burying the hatchet
Burying the hatchet is the result, when both sides stop fighting. An olive branch is only an offer and may be refused.
Practice
After months of not speaking, Maria sent her neighbor a note and a plate of cookies. She was ______.
Choose one answer.
A friendly gesture meant to end a quarrel is an olive branch. Adding fuel to the fire would make the conflict worse, so it does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “extending an olive branch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.