meet someone halfway — compromise
collocationB1IELTS 5+neutraloccasional
To accept part of what someone else wants so that you can both agree, especially when you disagree at first.
Say it like a native
Textbook I am prepared to make mutual concessions in order to reach an agreement.
Native I'm happy to meet you halfway on this.
The idiom packs the whole give-and-take into a warm phrase; the formal paraphrase loses it.
Pattern: meet + someone + halfway
In use
- If we both want different things, maybe we can meet each other halfway and find a solution that works for us.relationships
- In my opinion, it's important to meet people halfway in group projects, because everyone has different ideas and you need to compromise to work well together.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ Let's meet in the half way.
✓ Let's meet halfway.
Fixed idiom 'meet (someone) halfway' — no 'in the'.
Common collocations
meet someone halfway— meet you halfway, willing to, on this, if you
Don't confuse it
Not to be confused with 'meet in the middle', which can mean both compromise and physically meeting at a halfway point.