take the edge off

Idioms and Phrases

Ease or assuage, make less severe, as in That snack took the edge off our hunger , or Her kind manner took the edge off her refusal . This term alludes to blunting the edge of a cutting instrument. Shakespeare used it figuratively in The Tempest (4:1): “To take away the edge of that day's celebration.” The precise wording of the idiom dates from the first half of the 1900s.

Example Sentences

While some Angelenos fill their stomachs to calm their nerves, proponents of the “Emotional Freedom Technique” take the edge off by executing a series of esoteric stress-relief exercises.

From Los Angeles Times

She rode in the motorcade that took Malia and Sasha to school, to take the edge off the trip that involved three cars and at least four armed security agents.

From BBC

“It would definitely take the edge off,” he quipped.

From Slate

It would be a best-case scenario if this were all the result of future Sen. Schiff’s cynical, self-serving electioneering; state and national Democrats are telling themselves that story today to take the edge off.

From Slate

She said she relapsed in 2020, consumed by anxiety early in the pandemic, and later turned to cannabis, regarding it as a healthier way to take the edge off.

From New York Times

Related Words

• abate
• curtail
• decrease
• dilute
• diminish
• dwindle
• ease
• erode
• impair
• lighten
• minimize
• mitigate
• narrow
• shrink
• slacken
• taper off
• weaken