Examples of defang in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Netanyahu’s Israel is a country in the throes of unprecedented domestic upheaval due to the government’s attempt to defang the checks on majoritarian power.
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Natan Sachs, Foreign Affairs, 28 July 2023
Today, with mere hours remaining before Israel invades the Strip with the likely intention of defanging Hamas once and for all, Ocasio-Cortez demanded that Israel refrain from defending itself and its ...
—Noah Rothman, National Review, 13 Oct. 2023
So far removed from the reality of his crimes, Pinochet risks being defanged.
—The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2023
The opinion notes that there’s no evidence of misleading statements by church leaders on how a $600,000 bailout of that company from church coffers would be paid for, defanging Huntsman’s fraud assertions on that point.
—Tony Semerad, The Salt Lake Tribune, 10 Aug. 2023
Years of corporate feminism, girl bosses and girl power had defanged the second-wave critique; now feminists could look like anything, and some chose to look like Barbie.
—Willa Paskin, New York Times, 11 July 2023
But this big, splashy show, which is quite entertaining at times, is hampered by a shambolic jumble of sisterhood 101 messaging and defanged fantasy revisionism.
—Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 23 June 2023
Many observers in the United States and Europe, for example, wonder how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could have warned for years that Iran’s nuclear program posed an existential threat to Israel yet has balked at the international community’s attempts to defang it.
—Natan Sachs, Foreign Affairs, 20 Oct. 2015
The battle took place between August 23–August 30, 1914, shortly after the start of the war itself, and was an attempt by the German Army to defang Russian armies marching westward on Germany.
—Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 15 Apr. 2023
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Natan Sachs, Foreign Affairs, 28 July 2023
Today, with mere hours remaining before Israel invades the Strip with the likely intention of defanging Hamas once and for all, Ocasio-Cortez demanded that Israel refrain from defending itself and its ...
—Noah Rothman, National Review, 13 Oct. 2023
So far removed from the reality of his crimes, Pinochet risks being defanged.
—The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2023
The opinion notes that there’s no evidence of misleading statements by church leaders on how a $600,000 bailout of that company from church coffers would be paid for, defanging Huntsman’s fraud assertions on that point.
—Tony Semerad, The Salt Lake Tribune, 10 Aug. 2023
Years of corporate feminism, girl bosses and girl power had defanged the second-wave critique; now feminists could look like anything, and some chose to look like Barbie.
—Willa Paskin, New York Times, 11 July 2023
But this big, splashy show, which is quite entertaining at times, is hampered by a shambolic jumble of sisterhood 101 messaging and defanged fantasy revisionism.
—Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 23 June 2023
Many observers in the United States and Europe, for example, wonder how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could have warned for years that Iran’s nuclear program posed an existential threat to Israel yet has balked at the international community’s attempts to defang it.
—Natan Sachs, Foreign Affairs, 20 Oct. 2015
The battle took place between August 23–August 30, 1914, shortly after the start of the war itself, and was an attempt by the German Army to defang Russian armies marching westward on Germany.
—Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 15 Apr. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'defang.' 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
1919, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near defang
Cite this Entry
“Defang.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defang. Accessed 10 Dec. 2023.
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