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.

Mr. Homan defused a combustible situation by adjusting the style and substance of immigration enforcement.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 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