See soft-pedal on Wiktionary
Download JSON data for soft-pedal meaning in All languages combined (7.9kB)
{
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"tags": [
"noun"
],
"word": "soft-pedalling"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "soft pedal",
"pos": "noun",
"t": "leftmost foot-pedal on most pianos which, when pushed, dampens the strings and so softens the note played"
},
"expansion": "soft pedal (“leftmost foot-pedal on most pianos which, when pushed, dampens the strings and so softens the note played”, noun)",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From soft pedal (“leftmost foot-pedal on most pianos which, when pushed, dampens the strings and so softens the note played”, noun).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "soft-pedals",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedalling",
"tags": [
"UK",
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedaling",
"tags": [
"US",
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedalled",
"tags": [
"UK",
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedalled",
"tags": [
"UK",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedaled",
"tags": [
"US",
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedaled",
"tags": [
"US",
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "++",
"past2": "soft-pedaled",
"past2_qual": "US",
"past_qual": "UK",
"pres_ptc2": "soft-pedaling",
"pres_ptc2_qual": "US",
"pres_ptc_qual": "UK"
},
"expansion": "soft-pedal (third-person singular simple present soft-pedals, present participle (UK) soft-pedalling or (US) soft-pedaling, simple past and past participle (UK) soft-pedalled or (US) soft-pedaled)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"soft-ped‧al"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"glosses": [
"To reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)."
],
"id": "en-soft-pedal-en-verb-ioyQwUsb",
"links": [
[
"reduce",
"reduce"
],
[
"volume",
"volume#Noun"
],
[
"music",
"music"
],
[
"sound",
"sound#Noun"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive)",
"To reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)."
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "83 16 1 0",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)",
"word": "hiljentää"
},
{
"_dis1": "83 16 1 0",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)",
"word": "vaimentaa"
},
{
"_dis1": "83 16 1 0",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)",
"word": "utišati"
},
{
"_dis1": "83 16 1 0",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)",
"word": "prigušiti"
},
{
"_dis1": "83 16 1 0",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)",
"word": "umekšati"
}
]
},
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "emphasize"
},
{
"word": "highlight"
},
{
"word": "spotlight"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "5 38 14 43",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2008 August 27, Alessandra Stanley, “Obama team soft-pedals a milestone in history”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-31",
"text": "But when the first female also-ran at a convention merits such hoopla and hosannas, then it is harder for viewers to understand why the Democrats seem intent on soft-pedaling their presumptive nominee's arguably more remarkable breakthrough.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To reduce the force or impact of (something); to damp, to mute; especially, to minimize the less desirable aspects of (something); to play down, to tone down."
],
"id": "en-soft-pedal-en-verb-wu6S16K3",
"links": [
[
"force",
"force#Noun"
],
[
"impact",
"impact#Noun"
],
[
"damp",
"damp#Verb"
],
[
"mute",
"mute#Verb"
],
[
"minimize",
"minimize"
],
[
"desirable",
"desirable"
],
[
"aspects",
"aspect#Noun"
],
[
"play down",
"play down"
],
[
"tone down",
"tone down"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive)",
"(figuratively) To reduce the force or impact of (something); to damp, to mute; especially, to minimize the less desirable aspects of (something); to play down, to tone down."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "de-emphasize"
},
{
"word": "downplay"
}
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"transitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "22 67 3 7",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "painaa villaisella"
},
{
"_dis1": "22 67 3 7",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "pehmitellä"
},
{
"_dis1": "22 67 3 7",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "mettre la pédale douce"
},
{
"_dis1": "22 67 3 7",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "herunterspielen"
},
{
"_dis1": "22 67 3 7",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "sottacere"
},
{
"_dis1": "22 67 3 7",
"code": "mk",
"lang": "Macedonian",
"roman": "úblaži",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "у́блажи"
},
{
"_dis1": "22 67 3 7",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "prigušiti"
},
{
"_dis1": "22 67 3 7",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "ublažiti"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "5 38 14 43",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Coordinate term: soft-sell"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To attempt to persuade someone about (something) through understatement, so that the listener accepts the good points as obvious."
],
"id": "en-soft-pedal-en-verb-t-mqjiiV",
"links": [
[
"attempt",
"attempt#Verb"
],
[
"persuade",
"persuade"
],
[
"understatement",
"understatement"
],
[
"listener",
"listener"
],
[
"accept",
"accept"
],
[
"good",
"good#Adjective"
],
[
"points",
"point#Noun"
],
[
"obvious",
"obvious"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive)",
"(figuratively) To attempt to persuade someone about (something) through understatement, so that the listener accepts the good points as obvious."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"transitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "1 4 93 2",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to attempt to persuade someone about (something) through understatement",
"word": "pehmitellä"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 4 93 2",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to attempt to persuade someone about (something) through understatement",
"word": "vähätellä"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 4 93 2",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to attempt to persuade someone about (something) through understatement",
"word": "abbindolare"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "5 38 14 43",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Chiefly followed by on: to act in a less assertive or forceful manner."
],
"id": "en-soft-pedal-en-verb-OL3T~KYj",
"links": [
[
"on",
"on#Preposition"
],
[
"act",
"act#Verb"
],
[
"less",
"less#Adjective"
],
[
"assertive",
"assertive"
],
[
"forceful",
"forceful"
],
[
"manner",
"manner#Noun"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive, figuratively) Chiefly followed by on: to act in a less assertive or forceful manner."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"intransitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "1 14 2 83",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to act in a less assertive or forceful manner",
"word": "maltillistua"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌsɒf(t)ˈpɛdl̩/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈsɔf(t) ˌpɛdəl/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈsɑf(t)-/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "(RP pronunciation) -ɛdəl"
}
],
"word": "soft-pedal"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 3-syllable words",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English verbs",
"Rhymes:English/ɛdəl",
"Rhymes:English/ɛdəl/3 syllables"
],
"derived": [
{
"tags": [
"noun"
],
"word": "soft-pedalling"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "soft pedal",
"pos": "noun",
"t": "leftmost foot-pedal on most pianos which, when pushed, dampens the strings and so softens the note played"
},
"expansion": "soft pedal (“leftmost foot-pedal on most pianos which, when pushed, dampens the strings and so softens the note played”, noun)",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From soft pedal (“leftmost foot-pedal on most pianos which, when pushed, dampens the strings and so softens the note played”, noun).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "soft-pedals",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedalling",
"tags": [
"UK",
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedaling",
"tags": [
"US",
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedalled",
"tags": [
"UK",
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedalled",
"tags": [
"UK",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedaled",
"tags": [
"US",
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "soft-pedaled",
"tags": [
"US",
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "++",
"past2": "soft-pedaled",
"past2_qual": "US",
"past_qual": "UK",
"pres_ptc2": "soft-pedaling",
"pres_ptc2_qual": "US",
"pres_ptc_qual": "UK"
},
"expansion": "soft-pedal (third-person singular simple present soft-pedals, present participle (UK) soft-pedalling or (US) soft-pedaling, simple past and past participle (UK) soft-pedalled or (US) soft-pedaled)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"soft-ped‧al"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English transitive verbs"
],
"glosses": [
"To reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)."
],
"links": [
[
"reduce",
"reduce"
],
[
"volume",
"volume#Noun"
],
[
"music",
"music"
],
[
"sound",
"sound#Noun"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive)",
"To reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)."
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
]
},
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "emphasize"
},
{
"word": "highlight"
},
{
"word": "spotlight"
}
],
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"English transitive verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2008 August 27, Alessandra Stanley, “Obama team soft-pedals a milestone in history”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-31",
"text": "But when the first female also-ran at a convention merits such hoopla and hosannas, then it is harder for viewers to understand why the Democrats seem intent on soft-pedaling their presumptive nominee's arguably more remarkable breakthrough.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To reduce the force or impact of (something); to damp, to mute; especially, to minimize the less desirable aspects of (something); to play down, to tone down."
],
"links": [
[
"force",
"force#Noun"
],
[
"impact",
"impact#Noun"
],
[
"damp",
"damp#Verb"
],
[
"mute",
"mute#Verb"
],
[
"minimize",
"minimize"
],
[
"desirable",
"desirable"
],
[
"aspects",
"aspect#Noun"
],
[
"play down",
"play down"
],
[
"tone down",
"tone down"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive)",
"(figuratively) To reduce the force or impact of (something); to damp, to mute; especially, to minimize the less desirable aspects of (something); to play down, to tone down."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "de-emphasize"
},
{
"word": "downplay"
}
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English transitive verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Coordinate term: soft-sell"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To attempt to persuade someone about (something) through understatement, so that the listener accepts the good points as obvious."
],
"links": [
[
"attempt",
"attempt#Verb"
],
[
"persuade",
"persuade"
],
[
"understatement",
"understatement"
],
[
"listener",
"listener"
],
[
"accept",
"accept"
],
[
"good",
"good#Adjective"
],
[
"points",
"point#Noun"
],
[
"obvious",
"obvious"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive)",
"(figuratively) To attempt to persuade someone about (something) through understatement, so that the listener accepts the good points as obvious."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English intransitive verbs"
],
"glosses": [
"Chiefly followed by on: to act in a less assertive or forceful manner."
],
"links": [
[
"on",
"on#Preposition"
],
[
"act",
"act#Verb"
],
[
"less",
"less#Adjective"
],
[
"assertive",
"assertive"
],
[
"forceful",
"forceful"
],
[
"manner",
"manner#Noun"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive, figuratively) Chiefly followed by on: to act in a less assertive or forceful manner."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"intransitive"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌsɒf(t)ˈpɛdl̩/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈsɔf(t) ˌpɛdəl/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈsɑf(t)-/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "(RP pronunciation) -ɛdəl"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)",
"word": "hiljentää"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)",
"word": "vaimentaa"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)",
"word": "utišati"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)",
"word": "prigušiti"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.)",
"word": "umekšati"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "painaa villaisella"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "pehmitellä"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "mettre la pédale douce"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "herunterspielen"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "sottacere"
},
{
"code": "mk",
"lang": "Macedonian",
"roman": "úblaži",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "у́блажи"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "prigušiti"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to reduce the force or impact of (something) — see also damp, mute",
"word": "ublažiti"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to attempt to persuade someone about (something) through understatement",
"word": "pehmitellä"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to attempt to persuade someone about (something) through understatement",
"word": "vähätellä"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to attempt to persuade someone about (something) through understatement",
"word": "abbindolare"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to act in a less assertive or forceful manner",
"word": "maltillistua"
}
],
"word": "soft-pedal"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.