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View synonyms for soften up

soften up

verb

  1. to make or become soft
  2. tr to weaken (an enemy's defences) by shelling, bombing, etc
  3. tr to weaken the resistance of (a person) by persuasive talk, advances, etc
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Idioms and Phrases

Reduce resistance, as in His sales motto was: a fine lunch and a few drinks often will soften up a prospective customer . This expression transfers lessening of physical hardness to lessening mental resistance. It was first used, however, in World War II, where it meant “reduce the enemy's defenses by preliminary bombing.” [c. 1940]
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Example Sentences

I declare if the very mention of a woman to some of you old baches don't make your heads soften up like a jellyfish in the sun!

There are various kinds of homely women—some who are hideous in blue maybe, but who soften up in pink.

Skins already dry may be placed either in clear water or tan liquor until they soften up.

Three or four days' immersion will usually soften up a very much abused brush.

“Maybe Mr. Kain will soften up when we take the money to him,” Dan said hopefully.

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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.

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