soft-pedal

soft-pedal something

to play something down; to de-emphasize something. (Alludes to the soft pedal on the piano, which reduces the volume.) Try to soft-pedal the problems we have with the cooling system. I won't soft-pedal anything. Everyone must know the truth.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Lijsbeth	LIES-bət	Dutch
Porter	PAWR-tər	English
VeslemØY	-	Norwegian
Carles	-	Catalan
Tobias	to-BEE-ahs (German), tə-BIE-əs (English)	Biblical, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Brady	BRAY-dee	English, Irish