Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To remove the fuse from (an explosive device).
- v. To make less dangerous, tense, or hostile: a diplomatic move that defused the international crisis.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- etc. See diffuse, etc.
Wiktionary
- v. To remove the fuse from a bomb, etc.
- v. To make something less dangerous, tense, or hostile.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To disorder; to make shapeless.
- v. To remove the fuse from; to deactivate (a bomb or other explosive device) or make it ineffective.
- v. To make less dangerous.
WordNet 3.0
- v. remove the triggering device from
Examples
“One expert who was a chemical weapons specialist with the U.S. government says malls in the U.S. and elsewhere are susceptible to what he calls a defuse threat.”
“Likewise a vague mention of a 'truth and reconciliation commission' for Balochistan will not in the short-term defuse the situation unless practical and tangible confidence-building measures are taken to assuage the angry Baloch.”
“Renewing Google's license "was a smart move on the part of the Chinese government to kind of defuse the situation," said Paul Denlinger, an Internet consultant for startups.”
The Huffington Post: China Renews Google's License Despite Censorship Row
“At what point is it not enough that the mother can "defuse" the situation -- when the situation shouldn't be occurring in the first place?”
Jane Devin: Baker Act Used Against 7 Year Old: Delusional Parents or Cops in the Wrong?
“While mother Barbara Smith admits that her son has thrown such tantrums before, and was once suspended for knocking over a desk, she believes she should have been allowed to "defuse" the situation without police intervention.”
Jane Devin: Baker Act Used Against 7 Year Old: Delusional Parents or Cops in the Wrong?
“The one that was designed to "defuse" the whole Reverend Wright issue? ...”
“Basically, this was a smart move on the part of the Chinese government to kind of defuse the situation," said Paul Denlinger, an Internet consultant for startups.”
CBS 2 - KCAL 9 - Los Angeles - Southern California - LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports
“Knowing Sarkozy, he probably made a pass a Merkel in an attempt to "defuse" the situation.”
“Basically, this was a smart move on the part of the Chinese government to kind of defuse the situation so that the Google search engine will still be available in China," said Paul”
“(This version CORRECTS a quote from the imam 'defuse' instead of 'diffuse'.)”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘defuse’.
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Unknown
coalition, cabinet, tweet, defuse, steep, ancestral, mindset, breach, infraction, egregious, curb, backbite and 280 more...
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de-
away from; off; down; entirely; undo; reverse
detrain, decline, defunct, defrost, debility, detract, deduce, deduct, delineate, defuse, debunk, debase and 7 more...
reesetee In my experience, that usually tends to increase it. ;-) May 20, 2010
bilby Well, in theory you could diffuse tension by spreading it among people but that would hardly improve the situation. May 20, 2010
reesetee It definitely matters. "Diffuse" isn't the appropriate word there. May 20, 2010
chained_bear Right. So you're dissipating tension, or defusing a situation. May 19, 2010
chelster "Diffuse" and "defuse" are not interchangeable, and the former is now often misused for the latter. The following is from my book THE ACCIDENTS OF STYLE, which will be published by St. Martin's Press this August:
If your intended meaning is “to spread out, scatter, or disseminate,” use diffuse. Lamps diffuse light. The sun diffuses fog. And kindergarten teachers diffuse rudimentary knowledge while their sniffling, sneezing pupils diffuse germs.
If your intended meaning is “to make something less harmful or troublesome,” use defuse. You can defuse a bomb, render it harmless, or defuse a ticklish or potentially explosive situation. May 19, 2010
thtownse do you ever look at the Twitter feeds? This one was in with defuse: "Ok now I'm not saying I'm excited for MacGruber but I just tried to defuse a bomb with pantyhose, a lighter and some cat hair. Didn't work "
Other people lead such interesting lives. May 19, 2010
thtownse That makes sense. May 19, 2010
chained_bear I think it matters. If you're defusing, I'd say "the situation" should be the object--as thtownse says, as if the situation were going to explode--but if you want to do something to the tension, it seems like diffuse is the way to go. Tension doesn't really explode.
It does, however, get thick. I mean, I guess so. People say so, anyhow. May 19, 2010
thtownse Good question. I think the difference is whether the tension is going to explode, in which case it is defused (bomb-like). But a less tangible tension would be diffused. May 19, 2010
larry_kunz If a situation is turning tense, and I do something to ease the tension, what's the right verb? Did I defuse the situation or diffuse the tension? Does it matter? May 19, 2010