Soft_pedal
soft pedal
noun
1.
Also called una corda pedal. a pedal, as on a piano, for reducing tonal volume.
2.
Informal. something that restrains or dampens: to put a soft pedal on one's enthusiasm.
Origin:
1920–25
1920–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged
soft-ped·al
[sawft-ped-l, soft-] verb, soft-ped·aled, soft-ped·al·ing or ( especially British ) soft-ped·alled, soft-ped·al·ling. 
l, ˌsɒft- verb (used without object)
1.
to use the soft pedal.
verb (used with object)
2.
to soften the sound of by using the soft pedal.
3.
Informal. to tone or play down; make less strong, as an idea or fact: The dean soft-pedaled the reports of cheating.
Origin:
1915–20; v. use of noun phrase soft pedal
1915–20; v. use of noun phrase soft pedal
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To soft pedal
00:10
Soft pedal
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
| soft-pedal | |
| —vb , (US) -als, -alling, -alled, -als, -aling, -aled | |
| 1. | to mute the tone of (a piano) by depressing the soft pedal |
| 2. | informal to make (something, esp something unpleasant) less obvious by deliberately failing to emphasize or allude to it |
| —n | |
| 3. | sustaining pedal Compare piano a foot-operated lever on a piano, the left one of two, that either moves the whole action closer to the strings so that the hammers strike with less force or causes fewer of the strings to sound |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
| Main Entry: | soft pedal |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | See damper pedal |
Slang Dictionary
soft pedal (sth) definition
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Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
soft pedal
Something that de-emphasizes, restrains, or plays down, as in The mayor put a soft pedal on this potentially explosive situation. This expression alludes to the una corda or soft pedal of the piano, which reduces the volume of the sound. It gave rise to the verb soft-pedal, meaning both "reduce the volume of" or "make less emphatic, downplay." [Early 1900s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
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