mend

To be in good health again after a period of injury or illness. Jill is happy to be on the mend after her hospital stay. Yes, I was sick earlier this week, but I'm on the mend now.

An exclamation of one's anger or irritation with someone else. I can't believe he stole my idea—hell mend him!

proverb There is always the opportunity to reconcile after a conflict. I know you haven't talked to Carly in years, but it is never too late to mend—why don't you try calling her?

To maintain one's possessions for as long as possible, repairing rather than replacing them when needed, with the goal of not buying and/or consuming more than is necessary. To "make do" is to use what one has or make the best of a situation, even if it is not ideal. Growing up, my mother had to provide for three of us on her own, so we learned very quickly to make do and mend.

To rectify a damaged relationship. After Jill heard that her father had become ill, she decided it was time for them to mend their fences before it was too late. The politician tried to mend his fences with his constituents after the scandal, but was not able to regain their trust before the next election.

old-fashioned To begin moving faster, especially to meet the speed of another person. Noticing me behind him, the man mended his pace, and I mended mine, until we both began running through the crowded alleyways.

To start behaving in a different, usually preferable, way. After I got in yet another fight at school, the headmaster told me that I had to mend my ways or else I'd be expelled. No matter how old you are, there is still time to mend your ways.

Healing or getting well; improving in health. I broke my arm last month, so I've just been at home on the mend since then. A: "How's John doing?" B: "He had a rough week of it with the flu, but he's on the mend now, thank God."

Prov. It is never too late to apologize for something you have done or try to repair something you have done wrong. Sue: I still miss Tony, but it's been a year since our big fight and we haven't spoken to each other since. Mother: Well, it's never too late to mend; why don't you call him up and apologize?

Fig. to improve one's behavior. John used to be very wild, but he's mended his ways. You'll have to mend your ways if you go out with Mary. She hates people to be late.

getting better; becoming healthy again. I cared for my father while he was on the mend. I took a leave of absence from work while I was on the mend.

Improve poor relations; placate personal, political, or business contacts. For example, The senator always goes home weekends and spends time mending his fences. This metaphoric expression dates from an 1879 speech by Senator John Sherman in Mansfield, Ohio, to which he said he had returned "to look after my fences." Although he may have meant literally to repair the fences around his farm there, media accounts of the speech took him to mean campaigning among his constituents. In succeeding decades the term was applied to nonpolitical affairs as well.

Improve one's behavior, as in Threatened with suspension, Jerry promised to mend his ways. This expression, transferring a repair of clothes to one of character, was first recorded in 1868, but 150 or so years earlier it had appeared as mend one's manners.

Recovering one's health, as in I heard you had the flu, but I'm glad to see you're on the mend. This idiom uses mend in the sense of "repair." [c. 1800]

COMMON If you mend fences or mend your fences, you do something to improve your relationship with someone you have argued with. Yesterday he was publicly criticised for not doing enough to mend fences with his big political rival. He had managed to annoy every member of the family and thought he'd better mend his fences. Note: You can call this process fence-mending. The king is out of the country on a fence-mending mission to the European Community.

COMMON If someone mends their ways, they stop behaving badly or illegally and improve their behaviour. He seemed to accept his sentence meekly, promising to work hard in prison and to mend his ways. When asked if he intended to mend his ways, he told us `I'll try my best.'

To improve poor relations, especially in politics: "Whatever thoughts he may have entertained about mending some fences with [them] were banished" (Conor Cruise O'Brien).

Improving, especially in health.

To strengthen one’s position by reestablishing good relations among one’s supporters. The term apparently came from a speech by Sen. John Sherman to his neighbors and friends in 1879 in Mansfield, Ohio, in which he said, “I have come home to look after my fences,” presumably literally meaning the fences around his farm there. (Indeed, mending fences is a major and time-consuming chore for nearly all American farmers.) However, the newspaper reports of the speech interpreted it as a political statement that meant Sherman was really home to campaign among his constituents. The term continued to be used in this way, with repair and mend substituted for look after. In the twentieth century it was broadened to mean placating personal, business, or professional contacts who might have felt neglected or offended and trying to regain their support. Vice President Al Gore used it after his defeat in the 2000 presidential election, saying he planned to mend his fences.