defuse
Americanverb (used with object)
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to remove the fuze from (a bomb, mine, etc.).
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to make less dangerous, tense, or embarrassing.
to defuse a potentially ugly situation.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to remove the triggering device of (a bomb, etc)
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to remove the cause of tension from (a crisis, etc)
Commonly Confused
See diffuse
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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defusesimple
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defusessimple
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have defusedperfect
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has defusedperfect
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am defusingprogressive
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are defusingprogressive
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is defusingprogressive
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have been defusingperfect progressive
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has been defusingperfect progressive
Past
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defusedsimple
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had defusedperfect
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was defusingprogressive
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were defusingprogressive
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had been defusingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of defuse
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.
See Examples For:
Wataka tried to defuse tensions by inviting the officials and police to attend the concert, an offer that wasn’t accepted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
US President Donald Trump frequently refers to Munir as his "favourite field marshal", after a rapport built during US efforts to defuse a short but intense armed conflict between Pakistan and rival India last year.
From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026
Ritchson, according to the source, attempted to defuse the situation after Taylor allegedly dared him to get physical.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026
It is not clear how long it will take to defuse the bomb.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026
“You’re right. It was just one game. For now,” I said, trying to defuse the situation—though maybe I straightened my posture a bit to let him know I was not one to mess with.
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
He defuses them, crushing the cans and dragging them into the driveway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2025
An unprecedented compromise between the enemy states, the deal opens the way for offshore energy exploration and defuses one source of potential conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
From Reuters ● Oct. 18, 2022
Reporting their results this Wednesday in The Proceedings of the Royal Society A, the team concludes that water both makes and defuses these doughy volcanic bombs.
From New York Times ● Sep. 11, 2021
Studies by Kross and others show that talking to yourself in the third person takes the edge off stress and defuses it, often quite quickly.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 7, 2021
And although there couldn’t be a more neutral statement, it defuses any insectious worries I might have given her.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
He asked NotebookLM to “write a 600 word news story framed around how Oracle defused the key risk going into 2026 with a press release about a single bond deal.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 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
And I took great care to appear so deeply, thoroughly unmoved by the whole photo debacle that the mess defused itself in a matter of days.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
Earlier this week, Netflix converted its $27.75 a share bid to an all-cash offer in hopes of defusing some of Paramount’s criticisms of its deal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
She has tightened drug enforcement along the border, expelled imprisoned cartel bosses wanted by the U.S. and imposed 50% tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles and other goods, defusing U.S. threats of harsher tariffs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam was more cautious, saying Lebanon remained "far" from diplomatic normalisation with Israel and that the talks were focused on "defusing tension".
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2025
But O’Donnell likens the dynamics of the cast at that time to a dysfunctional sisterhood, adding that Morgan defusing the situation with Bensimon felt like someone trying to comfort a sibling.
From Salon ● May 20, 2025
Today they seemed awkward and complicated, like I was defusing a bomb.
From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman
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.
