smooth out

phrasal verb

smoothed out; smoothing out; smooths out also smoothes out

1

: to make (something) smooth or flat

Help me smooth out the tablecloth.

After we dug up the soil, we smoothed it out before we planted the seeds.

2

: to make (something) easier by removing or dealing with problems

We will smooth out the election process by next year.

She tried to smooth things out with her daughter-in-law, but the damage was done.

Examples of smooth out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Even when the figures were averaged out over seven days — to smooth out any abnormally busy or slow days — the median stay in Broadview approached 48 hours for detainees, or four times as long as the 12-hour ICE guideline. —Laura Rodríguez Presa, Chicago Tribune, 3 Aug. 2025

Google’s engineers worked on expanding the aspect ratio, smoothing out the film grain and even adding new background details. —Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025

Just note that this cotton-linen blend looks best after a quick steam to smooth out any creases. —Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 19 July 2025

The new suspension fork offers 50 mm of travel to help smooth out uneven terrain. —New Atlas, 12 July 2025

Rhymes for smooth out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout