take the edge off

Idioms  

1. Ease or assuage, make less severe, as in That snack took the edge off our hunger, or Her kind manner took the edge off her refusal. This term alludes to blunting the edge of a cutting instrument. Shakespeare used it figuratively in The Tempest (4:1): “To take away the edge of that day's celebration.” The precise wording of the idiom dates from the first half of the 1900s.

---

Example Sentences

Stellantis tries to take the edge off for workers hoofing it from outer perimeter lots, shuttling them in from some locations.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

A decline in inflation expectations tends to be associated with the possibility of a weaker economy, which would theoretically take the edge off price pressures.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 17, 2025

To come in and just, like you said, take the edge off and get to laugh a little bit.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2025

She rode in the motorcade that took Malia and Sasha to school, to take the edge off the trip that involved three cars and at least four armed security agents.

From BBC • May 31, 2024

“Not funny,” said Constance, but the joke did take the edge off her fury, and she said no more.

From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart

Related Words

• abate
• curtail
• decrease
• dilute
• diminish
• dwindle
• ease
• erode
• impair
• lighten
• minimize
• mitigate
• narrow
• shrink
• slacken
• weaken