water down
verb
watered down; watering down; waters down
: to reduce or temper the force or effectiveness of
watered down the plan
Examples of water down in a Sentence
watered down the cocktails while jacking up their prices
Recent Examples on the Web
And while there have been state-level efforts to increase housing supply, many of those initiatives have been riddled with loopholes and poison pills that allow local NIMBYs to distort or water down new housing development efforts.
—
Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 24 Feb. 2026
Bass repeatedly has denied she was involved in any effort to water down the after-action report, which was meant to spell out mistakes in the Palisades fire response and suggest measures to avoid repeating them.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2026
The rupture occurred near where the tunnel connects to the 15-foot-diameter penstock, sending a gully of water down both sides of the 1-mile pipeline leading to the powerhouse.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 20 Feb. 2026
The move is in stark contrast to New York City, where new mayor Zohran Mamdani watered down the Big Apple's definition of anti-Jewish hate.
—Staff, FOXNews.com, 19 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for water down
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Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 24 Feb. 2026
Bass repeatedly has denied she was involved in any effort to water down the after-action report, which was meant to spell out mistakes in the Palisades fire response and suggest measures to avoid repeating them.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2026
The rupture occurred near where the tunnel connects to the 15-foot-diameter penstock, sending a gully of water down both sides of the 1-mile pipeline leading to the powerhouse.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 20 Feb. 2026
The move is in stark contrast to New York City, where new mayor Zohran Mamdani watered down the Big Apple's definition of anti-Jewish hate.
—Staff, FOXNews.com, 19 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for water down
Cite this Entry
“Water down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/water%20down. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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