Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense soft-pedals, present participle soft-pedalling, past tense, past participle soft-pedalledregional note: in AM, use soft-pedaling, soft-pedaled
verb
If you soft-pedal something, you deliberately reduce the amount of activity or pressure that you have been using to get something done or seen.
He refused to soft-pedal an investigation into the scandal. [VERB noun]
[Also V + on]
Synonyms: play down, moderate, tone down, go easy [informal] More Synonyms of soft pedal
soft pedal in British English
(sɒft ˈpɛdəl)
noun
music
a foot-operated lever on a piano, the left one of two, that either moves the whole action closer to the strings so that the hammers strike with less force or causes fewer of the strings to sound
The left pedal is the soft pedal.
see also sustaining pedal, piano1
soft-pedal in British English
verbWord forms: -als, -alling, -alledWord forms: US-als, -aling or -aled(transitive)
1.
to mute the tone of (a piano) by depressing the soft pedal
2. informal
to make (something, esp something unpleasant) less obvious by deliberately failing to emphasize or allude to it
nounsoft pedal
3.
a foot-operated lever on a piano, the left one of two, that either moves the wholeaction closer to the strings so that the hammers strike with less force or causesfewer of the strings to sound
Compare sustaining pedal, piano1
soft pedal in American English
a pedal used to soften or dampen the tone of a piano or any of certain other musical instruments
soft-pedal in American English
(ˈsɔftˌpɛdəl; ˈsɑftˌpɛdəl)
verb transitiveWord forms: ˈsoft-ˈpedaled or ˈsoft-ˈpedalled, ˈsoft-ˈpedaling or ˈsoft-ˈpedalling
1.
to soften or dampen the tone of (a musical instrument) by use of a special pedal
2. Informal
to make less emphatic, less obtrusive, less conspicuous, etc.; tone down; play down