water down

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

Other Word Forms

• watered-down adjective

Idioms and Phrases

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

Example Sentences

The US administration had pressed the UK to water down its Digital Services Tax on companies, including Google, in talks this year, but it is not expected to feature in this week's announcements.

From BBC

The news has been welcomed by campaigners, who had feared the legislation was going to be watered down.

From BBC

Indeed, expect the chancellor's team to use the bond market rollercoaster to make the case that the answer to the autumn's tricky Budget balancing act is not more debt through watering down her borrowing limits.

From BBC

When her mother raged at her in public, she recalls, she "swirled like water down a sink and disappeared".

From BBC

But she faces difficult fiscal decisions in the run-up to her budget, after the government watered down its planned welfare savings and largely reversed winter fuel allowance cuts - decisions which narrowed her budget headroom.

From BBC

Related Words

• attenuate 
• weaken