water down

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water down (third-person singular simple present waters down, present participle watering down, simple past and past participle watered down)

1. To dilute; to add water to.

   You need to water down the lemonade a bit more to make it less sweet, dear.

2. (idiomatic) To make weaker, less effective.
   • 2023 February 8, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Hunt dismisses rumours that HS2 will not go to Euston”, in RAIL, number 976, page 25:

     "Scaling back its ambition further, at this stage, will just mean the economic and social benefit of HS2 for communities across the UK is further watered down. Our national infrastructure should not become a political football."

   • 2023 August 26, Phoebe Weston, “Weed-choked pavements anger residents as ‘rewilding’ divides UK towns and cities”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     For example, Tory ministers are looking to water down key climate policies such as the ban on petrol and diesel cars by 2030, phasing out gas boilers by 2035, and low traffic neighbourhoods.

   • 2023 November 17, Oliver Haynes, “Five years on, the world is failing to learn the gilets jaunes’ lesson about class and climate”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     In Germany, a law that would have mandated citizens to install costly clean-energy heating systems from January 2024 nearly toppled the German governing coalition, with the Greens’ approval rating plummeting. It was then watered down to allow a longer phase-in time.

3. (idiomatic) To simplify or oversimplify; to make easier; to make less difficult.

   Near-synonym: dumb down

   If you plan to teach this material to children, you may need to water it down.

4. (idiomatic) To make less restrictive; to make more lenient.

• watered-down

• dumb down
• tone down