build bridges

English

WOTD – 3 October 2022

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /bɪld ˈbɹɪd͡ʒɪz/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪdʒɪz
• Hyphenation: build bridg‧es

Verb

build bridges (third-person singular simple present builds bridges, present participle building bridges, simple past and past participle built bridges)

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) Often followed by between or to: to establish friendly relations or links.

   Antonym: burn one's bridges

   to build bridges between China and the West

   • 2021 November 29, Nicola Sturgeon, “Nicola Sturgeon’s Full Speech to #SNP21 Conference”, in Scottish National Party‎^[1], archived from the original on 9 May 2022:

     The Tories appear to have embarked on permanent conflict with the European Union. Instead of building bridges they are burning them.

Derived terms

• bridge-builder
• bridge-building

Related terms

• build a bridge and get over it
• burn that bridge when one comes to it
• cross that bridge when one comes to it

Translations

to establish friendly relations or links

• Finnish: luoda yhteyksiä
• Polish: budować mosty impf
• Spanish: acercar posturas

Further reading

• “to build bridges, v.” under “build, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2020.
• “build bridges, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.