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Synonyms

water down

British  

verb

  1. to dilute or weaken with water

  2. to modify or adulterate, esp so as to omit anything harsh, unpleasant, or offensive

    to water down the truth
"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
water down Idioms  

  1. Dilute or weaken, as in He watered down that unfavorable report with feeble excuses. [Mid-1800s]

Other Word Forms

  • watered-down adjective

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.