Meaning
Combining changes from one branch into another in Git, unifying different development streams.
Three examples from work
Code review completion
ReviewerAll comments are resolved; feel free to merge your pull request.
AuthorThanks for the thorough review; merging now.
Merge conflict
DevI cannot merge because someone else modified the database schema file.
LeadCoordinate with Alex to resolve the schema conflict cleanly.
Deployment strategy
LeadDo we squash and merge or keep individual commits?
ArchitectUse squash and merge to maintain a clean and linear git history.
Can be a verb ('to merge a branch') or noun ('a merge conflict'). Collocations: 'squash and merge', 'fast-forward merge'.