Damage limitation is action that is taken to make the bad results of something as small as possible,when it is impossible to avoid bad results completely.
[British]
The meeting was merely an exercise in damage limitation.
Damage limitation measures have been introduced.
regional note: in AM, use damage control
damage limitation in British English
(ˈdæmɪdʒ ˌlɪmɪˈteɪʃən) or damage control
noun
action that is taken to make the bad results of something as small as possible, when it is impossible to avoid bad results completely
It's too late for damage limitation.
The meeting was merely an exercise in damage limitation.
Examples of 'damage limitation' in a sentence
damage limitation
Tonight's programme is an exercise in damage limitation.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
It feels like quite a successful exercise in damage limitation,' he said.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
This was an exercise in damage limitation.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The government will mount a damage limitation exercise.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Getting glossy is not just an exercise in damage limitation.
The Sun (2008)
From then on it seemed an exercise in damage limitation.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
And not in an exercise of damage limitation but in a determined effort to win the game.
The Sun (2010)
From dreams of a fairytale victory to a forlorn damage limitation exercise in one flourish of a red card.
The Sun (2009)
This was a damage limitation exercise.
The Sun (2008)
The second half became an exercise in damage limitation, but not a particularly successful one.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
And he admitted he is finding it increasingly difficult to focus on his job while the club lurches from one damage limitation exercise to another.
The Sun (2012)
The pair put on a show of friendship for the cameras in New York yesterday as part of the damage limitation exercise.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
It is another inglorious episode, but the move was so ill-judged that it feels like abandoning it is an exercise in damage limitation.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
But, given the manifest weakness of its position, it quickly changed course and since has been engaged in a huge damage limitation exercise.