olive branch
a branch of the olive tree as an emblem of peace: One of their national emblems is a white dove clutching the olive branch of peace.
any token of peace: The new prime minister has pursued a reconciliation strategy,extending an olive branch to dissidents and rebel groups. Still in a snit, she snubbed his olive branch a few days later by blocking his phone call.
Origin of olive branch
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use olive branch in a sentence
Before “we” might offer “you” an olive branch, you must offer one to us.
Do LGBTs Owe Christians an Olive Branch? Try The Other Way Around | Jay Michaelson | December 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was a gracious touch, a rhetorical olive branch to his vanquished foes.
Didn't Obama Hear Oregon’s Warning Shot on Immigration? | Doug McIntyre | November 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTGoldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein took to the op-ed page of The Wall Street Journal to offer an olive branch of sorts.
Corporate America and the Fiscal Cliff: CEOs Woo Obama | Daniel Gross | November 14, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Syrian democracy movement and the international community should offer an olive branch to senior officers in the Syrian army.
Former East Timor President José Ramos-Horta’s Advice For Syrian Rebels | José Ramos-Horta | July 17, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST“The company approached the situation with a club as opposed to an olive branch,” he said.
It seems that Mr. Adams would have presented the sword boldly, keeping the olive branch carefully concealed behind his back.
The Eve of the Revolution | Carl BeckerBurn the male olive-branch and the pine twig and juniper, and let the blazing laurel crackle amid the hearth.
The Religion of Ancient Rome | Cyril BaileyThe olive branch held out by the workers after their victory over the Pinkertons has been refused.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander BerkmanThe crest of the clan was a mailed hand holding an olive branch, and the motto was "Not too much."
Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 4 of 8 | VariousThis poem was the olive-branch that Robert was about to snatch from the tomb.
My Recollections of Lord Byron | Teresa Guiccioli
British Dictionary definitions for olive branch
a branch of an olive tree used to symbolize peace
any offering of peace or conciliation
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for olive branch
The branch brought by a dove to Noah's ark signifying that the flood was receding.
Notes for olive branch
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with olive branch
A symbol of peace, an offering of good will, as in They feuded for years, but finally the Hatfields came over bearing an olive branch. This term is alluded to in the Bible (Genesis 8:11), where the dove comes to Noah after the flood with an olive leaf in its mouth. [c. 1600]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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