damp down

See also: dampdown and damp-down

English

Verb

damp down (third-person singular simple present damps down, present participle damping down, simple past and past participle damped down)

1. (transitive) to reduce the intensity of (a fire)
2. (transitive) to reduce the intensity of (an emotion or problem)
   • 2020 October 30, Brian Glanville, “Nobby Stiles obituary”, in The Guardian‎:

     Two years after England’s World Cup victory, Stiles was at Wembley again to help Manchester United become the first English team to win the European Cup final. Again Eusébio was one of his opponents, playing for Benfica, and again Stiles was detailed to keep him quiet. Although he was not as comprehensively successful in damping down his man the second time around, he still did a perfectly satisfactory job – and United won 4-1.