defang
Strip of menace
To defang is to remove the fangs from a venomous animal, rendering it harmless.
The word almost always appears figuratively: to defang a law is to strip it of enforcement power; to defang criticism is to neutralize its sting.
The amendment effectively defanged the regulation.
The idea is making something dangerous safe by removing its ability to harm.
Cancel an effect
- disableRemove functional capacity
- disarmRemove capacity to harm
- deactivateTurn off or neutralize
- mitigateMake less severe
countermeasure · pacify · subdue · suppress · undermine · weaken · blunt · soften
Dull or tactlessly direct
- softenMake less firm
- weakenReduce in strength
- diluteReduce by adding solvent
- moderateLessen intensity or preside
temper · tone down · water down · sanitize · bowdlerize · censor · edit · redact
Injected animal poison
- antivenomSerum countering toxic bites
- serpentCunning, limbless reptile
- reptileCold-blooded scaled vertebrate
- venomousProducing injected toxins
cobra · viper · rattlesnake · herpetology · captive · handler · milking · extraction
neutralize
Cancel an effect
- disableRemove functional capacity
- disarmRemove capacity to harm
- deactivateTurn off or neutralize
mitigate · countermeasure · pacify · subdue · suppress · undermine · weaken · blunt · soften · temper
blunt
Dull or tactlessly direct
moderate · temper · tone down · water down · sanitize · bowdlerize · censor · edit · redact · muzzle
venom
Injected animal poison
- antivenomSerum countering toxic bites
- serpentCunning, limbless reptile
- reptileCold-blooded scaled vertebrate
venomous · cobra · viper · rattlesnake · herpetology · captive · handler · milking · extraction · nontoxic