water down

water down
verb
1. make less strong or intense (Freq. 1)
-

water down the mixture

Hypernyms: ↑dilute, ↑thin, ↑thin out, ↑reduce, ↑cut
Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s something

-

Something ——s something

2. thin by adding water to
-

They watered down the moonshine

Hypernyms: ↑load, ↑adulterate, ↑stretch, ↑dilute, ↑debase
Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s something

* * *

water down [phrasal verb]
water (something) down or water down (something)
1 : to make (an alcoholic drink) weaker by adding water to it

Someone watered down [=diluted] the punch.

2 disapproving : to make (something) less effective, powerful, etc.

He had to water down [=simplify] the lecture for the younger students.

The movie watered down the lessons of the book.

— see also watered-down
• • •
Main Entry:water

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • water down — phrasal verb [transitive] Word forms water down : present tense I/you/we/they water down he/she/it waters down present participle watering down past tense watered down past participle watered down 1) to make something such as a statement or… …   English dictionary

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  • water down — {v.} To change and make weaker; weaken. * /The Senator argued that the House should water down the bill before passing it./ * /The African American did not accept watered down Civil Rights legislation./ * /After talking with the management about… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • water\ down — v To change and make weaker; weaken. The Senator argued that the House should water down the bill before passing it. The African American did not accept watered down Civil Rights legislation. After talking with the management about their demands …   Словарь американских идиом

  • water down — verb a) To dilute; to add water You need to water down the lemonade a bit more to make it less sweet, dear. b) To make weaker. If you plan to teach this material to children, you may need to water it down …   Wiktionary

  • water down —    If you water down something such as a report, declaration or proposal, you try to make it weaker or less likely to cause anger.     When announcing the rejection of the proposal, he tried to water down the committee s negative comments …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • water down something — water down (something) to make something weaker. Some people say the new regulations water down several laws that protect people who rent apartments in the city. Once the bill is introduced, he s worried that lawmakers will water it down.… …   New idioms dictionary

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