soft pedal
Also called una corda pedal . a pedal, as on a piano, for reducing tonal volume.
Informal. something that restrains or dampens: to put a soft pedal on one's enthusiasm.
Origin of soft pedal
1Other definitions for soft-pedal (2 of 2)
to use the soft pedal.
to soften the sound of by using the soft pedal.
Informal. to tone or play down; make less strong, as an idea or fact: The dean soft-pedaled the reports of cheating.
Origin of soft-pedal
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for soft-pedal
to mute the tone of (a piano) by depressing the soft pedal
informal to make (something, esp something unpleasant) less obvious by deliberately failing to emphasize or allude to it
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: Compare sustaining pedal, piano 1
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with 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® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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