smooth over


verb
  1. (tr) to ease or gloss over: to smooth over a situation

Words Nearby smooth over

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use smooth over in a sentence

  • He refused to smooth over their wrong doing or listen to the excuses they offered for going to war.

    Four American Indians | Edson L. Whitney
  • Could you see anything in that blind-like look sideways—and hair so smooth over the ear?

  • I had been willing to smooth over all differences with him until he made Mary Desmond the issue between us.

    In Hostile Red | Joseph Altsheler
  • He must know how to deal with his pupils, how to smooth over the rough places of temperament.

    The Psychology of Singing | David C. Taylor
  • This wears you out more than anything, for you have always to be ready to smooth over and soften every sentence that is said.

Other Idioms and Phrases with smooth over

smooth over

Rid of obstructions or difficulties, as in We tried to smooth things over between the families before the wedding but did not succeed. [Late 1600s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.