Merge Conflict
A version-control conflict that requires a person to reconcile incompatible changes before histories can combine.
Plain English
Two sets of changes overlap in a way the tool cannot resolve safely by itself.
In context
Resolving a merge conflict requires understanding the intended result and validating the combined behavior rather than merely removing conflict markers.
Example
“Both branches changed the authorization rule and produced a merge conflict.”
When you'll hear this
- pull requests
- branch integration
- release maintenance
Common misunderstanding
A clean merge does not prove semantic compatibility and a conflict does not mean either change is wrong.
Also known as
git conflictmerge collision
Commonly used by
Related terms
Updated: 2026-08-27
