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
The Times has described efforts by Bass and others to water down the after-action report.
—
Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
Name, image and likeness money is pulling guys with borderline first-round grades back to school, which is watering down the top of each class.
—Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026
But this move doesn’t necessarily water down what is so essentially Hong Kong about cha chaan tengs and their cooking.
—Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026
Linguists and etymologists say that, over time, a playful type of humor has sometimes watered down the word's meaning.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for water down
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
Name, image and likeness money is pulling guys with borderline first-round grades back to school, which is watering down the top of each class.
—Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026
But this move doesn’t necessarily water down what is so essentially Hong Kong about cha chaan tengs and their cooking.
—Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026
Linguists and etymologists say that, over time, a playful type of humor has sometimes watered down the word's meaning.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 8 Apr. 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 15 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
