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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

Roughly four years ago, some states paused their gas taxes to try taking the edge off spiking gas prices after Russia invaded Ukraine.

From MarketWatch

These figures took the edge off L&G’s results elsewhere, namely its operating profit and outlook.

From The Wall Street Journal

Your character Monica took the edge off an otherwise intense thriller.

From Los Angeles Times

“Sometimes medication is necessary to take the edge off of traumatized animals.”

From Los Angeles Times

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.