Question

Choose the most appropriate option for the following question:
“To bury the hatchet” means:
a. To end a feud with an enemy
b. To cremate carcass of an animal
c. To plant grass in the field
d. To hide some treasure

Answer 1

Hint: The phrase ‘to bury the hatchet’ refers to ‘end a quarrel or conflict and become friendly'.

Complete answer:
An idiom is a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.
For example- the idiom ‘over the moon’ refers to ‘being extremely happy’ and the idiom ‘to call it a day’ means ‘to stop working on something’.
They are usually metaphorical and should not be taken literally.
The phrase can be used in a sentence as follows:
For example, in the sentence ‘Can you two bury the hatchet and become friends again?’, the phrase refers to ending an argument/quarrel.
Let’s look at the options one by one:
- b. To cremate carcass of an animal - This phrase’s literal meaning can be easily ascertained. This is not the meaning of the given phrase. It is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
- c. To plant grass in the field - This phrase has taken the literal meaning of the given phrase. It is not the meaning of the given phrase. It is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
- d. To hide some treasure - This is not the meaning of the given phrase. It is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

- a. To end the feud with an enemy - This phrase means to put an end to the fight with an enemy/foe. This is the exact meaning of the given phrase. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.

Note: Understand the meanings of each of the options, and choose the one that is most likely to be the meaning of the given phrase. Do not make the mistake of choosing the literal meaning, it is an idiom.