From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpatch something/somebody ↔ up phrasal verb1 ARGUEto end an argument because you want to stay friendly with someone Try to patch up your differences before he leaves.patch it/things up (with somebody) He went back to patch things up with his wife.2 REPAIRto repair a hole in something by putting a piece of something else over it We’ll have to patch up the hole in the roof.3 MHto give quick and basic medical treatment to someone who is hurt We patched up the wounded as best we could. → patch→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
patch up• Colin and Dawn fell in love when Dawn tried to help them patch things up.• They are responsible of the errors committed and they are the ones who must patch things up.• We followed a dirt road through Chianti vineyards, waving to stubbly-faced farmers in corduroy trousers festooned with patches.• They patched him up, and he dozed through the night.• Simply making the effort to talk about how to patch things up could turn you into a human relations winner.• What can I do to patch things up for them?• A few days later the few uneven patches were shaped up with a second mowing, with the greatest of ease.• Eventually, we patched things up with some pumpkin pie.patch up ... differences• And the couple are now taking an early-break break from their civic duties to patch up their differences.• But the pair, openly hostile by the end of last year, will patch up their mutual differences.• Phil Coleman ... patched up his differences with Steve Dowman at Wivenhoe. 