defuse
verb
Did you know?
defuse or diffuse?
Many people find it difficult to remember the difference between defuse and diffuse, and when faced with the need for one of these words simply grab whichever one first comes to mind. But it needn’t be this way: the meanings of these two are quite a bit different, and there is a simple way to differentiate between them. Defuse is formed by adding the prefix de- to the word fuse; you are removing the fuse (either literally or figuratively) when you defuse a situation, much as defanging something entails removing the fangs. Diffuse, when used as a verb, tends to carry meanings such as “spread” or “scatter.” Additionally, diffuse is the only one which may be found used as an adjective.
Examples of defuse in a Sentence
David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
By making the announcement of the retirement, the state Criminal Justice Commission gave itself months to find a replacement for a position that, through Devlin’s outreach and open records efforts, has succeeded in defusing much of the emotion accompanying police shooting cases.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 31 Mar. 2025
But by the time the Portuguese winger delivered a cross, Arsenal had six players inside their own penalty area compared to Chelsea’s three and so were able to defuse the attack.
—Jordan Campbell, The Athletic, 22 Mar. 2025
The prior administration’s unusual means of funding the government lit a stick of dynamite in the Federal budget, and the current administration must try to defuse it.
—Michael Khouw, CNBC, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for defuse
Cite this Entry
“Defuse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defuse. Accessed 4 Apr. 2025.
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