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put a damper on
Idioms and Phrases
Discourage, dishearten, deter, as in Grandpa's death put a damper on our Christmas holidays . This idiom employs the noun damper in the sense of “something that damps or depresses the spirits,” a usage dating from the mid-1700s.Example Sentences
The Betts injury, which came on the same day the Dodgers put pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the 15-day injured list because of a rotator-cuff strain, put a damper on an otherwise successful afternoon for the Dodgers.
It put a damper on the weekend, to say the least.
The sun was shining Saturday, and Derby-goers didn’t have to contend with the bad news that put a damper on the race last year, when seven horses died in the week leading into the race.
“On this day, they are not letting it go. ... It was kind of like they put a damper on my childhood dream of getting a home run ball.”
They want diverse student bodies, but last year the Supreme Court put a damper on their ability to work directly toward that end.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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