defang
Americanverb (used with object)
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to remove the fangs of.
to defang a snake.
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to cause to become less powerful or threatening; render harmless.
Etymology
Origin of defang
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There were also signs that Biden and Trump are trying to defang some of the most damaging lines of attack against them.
From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2024
Or defang it, maybe by further limiting it to negotiating just pay and benefits and not job protections for bad officers?
From Seattle Times • Sep. 13, 2023
Unionization, once a powerful weapon in the arsenal of the nation's workforce, looks to be making a comeback – at least marginally, after decades of declining membership and strong-arm tactics by management to defang it.
From Salon • Sep. 10, 2022
Ironically, his efforts to defang his rivals, the mujahideen commanders in the provinces, left his government without its strongest source of protection against the Taliban.
From Slate • Feb. 2, 2022
What better way to defang a secret society than to make public its most secret information?
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
