collocation · informal
patch things up
/pætʃ θɪŋz ʌp/PATCH THINGS UP
Band 5-6speaking
to repair a relationship after an argument or disagreement
Examples
“They argued yesterday but patched things up this morning.”
“Sometimes it's hard to patch things up after a serious dispute.”
“She called him hoping they could patch things up.”
Band 8 sentence
“They had a serious disagreement, but after an honest conversation they managed to patch things up and move forward.”
Collocations
- patch things up with someone
- try to patch things up
Word family
patch verbpatch-up noun (informal)
Common mistakes
patch up things→patch things up
patch the relationship→patch things up / repair the relationship
Say it for a higher band
5make up→6reconcile→7+patch things up
Synonyms
reconcile
make up
Easily confused
make up
“After the argument they made up quickly.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Family & Relationships
Learn it with its set