Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

take the edge off

Idioms  

  1. Ease or assuage, make less severe, as in That snack took the edge off our hunger, or Her kind manner took the edge off her refusal. This term alludes to blunting the edge of a cutting instrument. Shakespeare used it figuratively in The Tempest (4:1): “To take away the edge of that day's celebration.” The precise wording of the idiom dates from the first half of the 1900s.

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.

Stellantis tries to take the edge off for workers hoofing it from outer perimeter lots, shuttling them in from some locations.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

A decline in inflation expectations tends to be associated with the possibility of a weaker economy, which would theoretically take the edge off price pressures.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 17, 2025

While some Angelenos fill their stomachs to calm their nerves, proponents of the “Emotional Freedom Technique” take the edge off by executing a series of esoteric stress-relief exercises.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 2, 2024

A couple of days before the 24th, not knowing what might happen of course, I asked my friend to take a picture of me with the decorations - to take the edge off.

From BBC • Feb. 22, 2023

He wasn’t all that thirsty but he thought the water might help to take the edge off his hunger.

From "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen

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.