water down

verb

watered down; watering down; waters down

transitive verb

: to reduce or temper the force or effectiveness of
watered down the plan
watered-down adjective

Examples of water down in a Sentence

watered down the cocktails while jacking up their prices
Recent Examples on the Web It was quickly watered down and eventually delayed after a push from powerful agricultural and real estate interests — some of which turned to pressuring legislators to do the same, and not just in Miami-Dade but across the state. Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2024 But, after two years of backlash, the final rule was significantly watered down from its original version. Samantha Delouya, CNN, 6 Mar. 2024 The Voting Rights Act also requires that maps don't water down the votes of minority voters, which are often geographically segregated. Journal Sentinel, 8 Feb. 2024 All that expansion, Herbstreit said, could water down the Big Ten's most famous rivalry — Ohio State-Michigan. Eric Olson, USA TODAY, 9 Jan. 2024 In December 2023, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria proposed amendments that civil liberty advocates argue water down surveillance technology oversight. Calmatters, The Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2024 The pharmaceutical industry, in court and in Congress, is working to water down legislation that will let Medicare negotiate certain drug prices. Damian Garde, STAT, 16 Feb. 2024 Numerous agencies fought to water down the document, which the U.N. never made public. David Adesnik, National Review, 2 Feb. 2024 Etsy has joined the growing list of companies to lay off workers in the lead-up to Christmas—and its CEO attempted to water down the bad news with a sailing metaphor. Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 14 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'water down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1811, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of water down was in 1811

Dictionary Entries Near water down

Cite this Entry

“Water down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/water%20down. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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