water\ down

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, the workers agreed to water them down.

The teacher had to water down the course for a slow-learning class.


Словарь американских идиом. — СПб., Изд-во "Лань". . 1997.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • 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. Etymology: based… …   New idioms dictionary

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  • water down — verb 1. make less strong or intense (Freq. 1) water down the mixture • Hypernyms: ↑dilute, ↑thin, ↑thin out, ↑reduce, ↑cut • Verb Frames …   Useful english dictionary

  • water down — 1) PHRASAL VERB If you water down a substance, for example food or drink, you add water to it to make it weaker. [V P n (not pron)] You can water down a glass of wine and make it last twice as long... [V n P] I bought a water based paint, then… …   English dictionary

  • 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

  • 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… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • 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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