soft pedal

n.
A pedal used to mute tone, as on a piano.

Something that de-emphasizes, restrains, or plays down, as in The mayor put a soft pedal on this potentially explosive situation. This expression alludes to the una corda or soft pedal of the piano, which reduces the volume of the sound. It gave rise to the verb soft-pedal, meaning both "reduce the volume of" or "make less emphatic, downplay." [Early 1900s]

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a pedal on a piano that moves the action closer to the strings and so soften the sound

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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - gå stille med dørene, spille med pianopedal

Nederlands (Dutch)
linker pedaal (piano)

Français (French)
v. tr. - mettre un bémol, mettre la pédale douce

Deutsch (German)
v. - gedämpft Klavier spielen, herunterspielen, nachgeben

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - (μουσ.) παίζω πιάνο με τη σουρντίνα, (μτφ.) αμβλύνω τους τόνους, πηγαίνω με το μαλακό

Italiano (Italian)
rallentare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - suavizar, maneirar, amenizar

Русский (Russian)
брать левую педаль, "замять", спускать на тормозах, смягчать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - tocar con sordina, suavizar, moderar, minimizar la importancia de

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - spela med sordinpedal, inte tala för högt, tona ner, dämpa tonen

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
用弱音踏板降低音调, 缓和, 降低...的音调, 不声张

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 用弱音踏板降低音調, 緩和, 降低...的音調, 不聲張

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 약음 페달을 밟다, (생각 등을) 억누르다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 和らげる, 控えめにする

العربيه (Arabic)
‏ألدواسه ألخافضه للصوت مثلا في ألبيانو ‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮המעיט ערכו, ביטל חשיבותו, טשטש, עמעם, מיתן‬

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