How to Use defang in a Sentence

defang

verb

• That kind of disregard for the law defangs it in a big way, Marsco said.
  — The Washington Post, The Mercury News, 13 June 2019
• But Bass so far appears to have been able to defang the issue.
  — Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2022
• One of the best strategies to defang the sting of criticism is to dissect it.
  — Samantha Boardman, Marie Claire, 9 Aug. 2018
• Failing that, the NRA still managed to defang one of the law’s provisions.
  — Salvador Rizzo, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2018
• But the case also defanged much of the research on video-game violence.
  — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 5 Aug. 2019
• There also are ways Trump could defang the Russia probe short of getting Mueller fired.
  — David Voreacos, Bloomberg.com, 12 Apr. 2018
• Peace in the near term is seen as a pipedream; the need to stop terrorism and defang enemies is paramount.
  — Zack Beauchamp, Vox, 20 Nov. 2018
• When the black bear was a year old, he was defanged and declawed, his mouth altered into a gummy mash of pink gums and tongue.
  — Chicago Tribune, chicagotribune.com, 2 June 2018
• There were also signs that Biden and Trump are trying to defang some of the most damaging lines of attack against them.
  — Lisa Lerer, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2024
• In the explosive essay that kicks off this anthology, the philosopher Agnes Callard writes that such caveats defang the very point of anger.
  — The New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2020
• Yet those leaders are the main obstacles now to defanging North Korea and Iran.
  — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 19 Sep. 2017
• So far removed from the reality of his crimes, Pinochet risks being defanged.
  — The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2023
• For one thing, the pretext for the Iraq invasion was the need to defang a monster who threatened regional peace with weapons of mass destruction.
  — Todd J. Gillman, Dallas News, 2 Sep. 2021
• Pita’s party has campaigned on a significant program of changes that would defang the military and lessen the clout and reach of the monarchy.
  — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 17 May 2023
• There’s an old-fashioned, defanged feel to the stories, as if estrangement had been collared and corralled into the safe confines of a folktale.
  — Bruce Sterling, WIRED, 19 May 2010
• That cannot be learned in any displaced arena, or field of play, or even a funhouse palace, however defanged or neutered to protect against real loss.
  — Krista Stevens, Longreads, 22 Feb. 2023
• There are some efforts among members of Congress to defang the power of the debt ceiling as a political cudgel.
  — Grace Segers, The New Republic, 15 Dec. 2021
• His concern for the NFL’s declining ratings aside, the president has likely defanged the anthem protest.
  — Mychal Denzel Smith, New Republic, 27 Sep. 2017
• But regulators managed to defang the wolves, never giving them a chance.
  — The Economist, 4 July 2019
• In terms of the metal that one comes across from Scandinavia and other Nordic countries, Sonata Arctica is sort of defanged and approachable.
  — John Adamian, courant.com, 11 Oct. 2019
• A House committee takes up legislation Wednesday that would defang the tighter rules.
  — Washington Post, 25 Apr. 2017
• And on campaign finance issues, the court has trended toward using the First Amendment to defang their potential bite.
  — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 22 Mar. 2023
• In the case of the new board appointments, Kalanick may be working to defang governance reform efforts that could leave him with less direct power.
  — David Z. Morris, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2017
• Yet painting the Klansmen approachably doesn’t defang them.
  — Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 24 May 2022
• There’s also been a conscious attempt to defang his critiques a little bit, as the spirit of viral online content—and Meagher’s intent—has evolved.
  — André-Naquian Wheeler, Vogue, 28 Feb. 2023
• Larraín’s choice to make Pinochet a vampire is an especially lucid way of defanging him.
  — Valerie Trapp, The Atlantic, 9 Mar. 2024
• The bill defangs the ACA’s insurance requirement retroactively, so that people who failed to have coverage last year would no longer risk a penalty.
  — Amy Goldstein, Washington Post, 22 June 2017
• The bill defangs the ACA's insurance requirement retroactively, so that people who failed to have coverage last year would no longer risk a penalty.
  — Amy Goldstein, Alaska Dispatch News, 23 June 2017
• Mulvaney has pledged to defang the agency, criticizing it for wasteful spending and overzealous oversight that is strangling banks and other lenders.
  — Author: Emily Flitter, Glenn Thrush, Anchorage Daily News, 19 Apr. 2018
• Columnist Abe Kwok points out that even before Roger Smith left, state law had largely defanged the new office’s ability to provide independent oversight.
  — Joanna Allhands, The Arizona Republic, 5 Feb. 2024

Last Updated: 15 Oct 2024