water down

verb

watered down; watering down; waters down

transitive verb

: to reduce or temper the force or effectiveness of
watered down the plan
watered-down adjective

Examples of water down in a Sentence

watered down the cocktails while jacking up their prices
Recent Examples on the Web White-collar companies are watering down their diversity programs by altering or removing language that suggests these efforts are exclusively for underrepresented people. Byruth Umoh, Fortune, 26 June 2024 And bonding requirements were watered down to the point that new, stricter rules would only apply to a handful of drillers. Mark Olalde, ProPublica, 24 June 2024 There was an excitement, and then it would just get watered down a little bit by the powers that be. Liza Lentini, SPIN, 14 June 2024 To overcome that skepticism, Arambula watered down the original bill, which would have zeroed out cancellation fees entirely for solar farm conversions. Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for water down 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'water down.' 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

1811, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of water down was in 1811

Dictionary Entries Near water down

Cite this Entry

“Water down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/water%20down. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.

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