defang
verb
de·fang (ˌ)dē-ˈfaŋ 
defanged; defanging; defangs
transitive verb
: to make harmless or less powerful
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web But Bass so far appears to have been able to defang the issue. 
Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2022 Yet painting the Klansmen approachably doesn’t defang them. Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 24 May 2022 There are some efforts among members of Congress to defang the power of the debt ceiling as a political cudgel. Grace Segers, The New Republic, 15 Dec. 2021 For one thing, the pretext for the Iraq invasion was the need to defang a monster who threatened regional peace with weapons of mass destruction. Todd J. Gillman, Dallas News, 2 Sep. 2021 The only way an inquiry can defang disinformation and conspiracy theories, like the idea that the Capitol rioters were antifa agitators in disguise, is if the country thinks the effort is factual and fair. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 24 Feb. 2021 In the explosive essay that kicks off this anthology, the philosopher Agnes Callard writes that such caveats defang the very point of anger. The New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2020 The full weight of Congress’s oversight powers can be a formidable tool when wielded properly, even despite Trump’s best efforts to defang them since 2018. Matt Ford, The New Republic, 16 Sep. 2020 Some have also pitched ideas to potentially defang a conservative-leaning Supreme Court or to bypass Congress to pursue more of their agenda through executive action. NBC News, 2 Feb. 2020 See More
Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2022 Yet painting the Klansmen approachably doesn’t defang them. Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 24 May 2022 There are some efforts among members of Congress to defang the power of the debt ceiling as a political cudgel. Grace Segers, The New Republic, 15 Dec. 2021 For one thing, the pretext for the Iraq invasion was the need to defang a monster who threatened regional peace with weapons of mass destruction. Todd J. Gillman, Dallas News, 2 Sep. 2021 The only way an inquiry can defang disinformation and conspiracy theories, like the idea that the Capitol rioters were antifa agitators in disguise, is if the country thinks the effort is factual and fair. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 24 Feb. 2021 In the explosive essay that kicks off this anthology, the philosopher Agnes Callard writes that such caveats defang the very point of anger. The New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2020 The full weight of Congress’s oversight powers can be a formidable tool when wielded properly, even despite Trump’s best efforts to defang them since 2018. Matt Ford, The New Republic, 16 Sep. 2020 Some have also pitched ideas to potentially defang a conservative-leaning Supreme Court or to bypass Congress to pursue more of their agenda through executive action. NBC News, 2 Feb. 2020 See More Word History
First Known Use
1919, in the meaning defined above