defuse
verb (used with object)
to remove the fuze from (a bomb, mine, etc.).
defused
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past participleof defuse.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof defuse.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
defuseverb (used with object)to remove the fuze from (a bomb, mine, etc.).
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.
But when I apologized by admitting it was my first real investment and I simply didn’t know better, the tension defused.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
She declined to answer questions on whether tensions had been defused with Washington.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2026
The summit will offer Brussels the chance to turn the page after a bruising transatlantic crisis over Greenland -- now seemingly defused.
From Barron's ● Jan. 24, 2026
Traders will weigh whether the risk in Iran is “genuinely defused or simply resting,” because calm in the Persian Gulf has a “habit of braking without warning,” he added.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 16, 2026
As with the spy Penkovsky before him, the information Gordievsky passed to his handlers, experts believe, may well have defused a global crisis and averted nuclear war.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
