smooth out

phrasal verb

smoothed out; smoothing out; smooths out also smoothes out

: 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.

: 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 Khanna is among a group of surrogates the campaign has identified to address dissent, smooth out tensions and, ultimately, steer wayward Democrats back toward the president. —

USA TODAY, 19 Apr. 2024 For skirts, smooth out the waistband with the iron, and lay the body of the skirt flat across the board to iron. —

Helen Carefoot, Washington Post, 3 Apr. 2024 Perhaps eight or 10 episodes would have allowed Taylor and the writers to smooth out certain gaps. —

Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2024 The upright architecture positions your body comfortably for long-term riding, and a front suspension (with 80-millimeter of travel) works with a plush suspension seat post to smooth out harsh terrain. —

Nathan Borchelt, Travel + Leisure, 16 Feb. 2024 Planet Proton’s Limits Conceptually, this kind of analysis smooths out the blurry dance of quarks into a solid, planetlike object, with pressures and forces acting on each speck of volume. —

Charlie Wood, WIRED, 14 Apr. 2024 Analysts argue that the United States only has itself to blame for this predicament, given the ongoing inability of Congress to push through bipartisan immigration reform that could relieve some of the pressures on the border and smooth out delays in asylum applications. —

Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024 The headlight is nice and bright, the 10-inch self-sealing tubeless tires smooth out ridges in the road, front dual suspension also makes bumps less noticeable, the deck to stand on is large, the dashboard is colorful, and of course the unit easily folds up for storage. —

Scott Kramer, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 Many employers are scrambling to smooth out that transition. —

Byalicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 21 Mar. 2024

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