disarm

/dis'ɑ:m/

Thân thiện

The negotiator used a calm tone to disarm the tense situation.

Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To take weapons away from someone; to remove or reduce the means of attack: The primary meaning is to deprive a person, group, or nation of weapons or the ability to wage war.
   • To make someone less hostile, angry, or suspicious; to win over through charm or persuasion: This figurative meaning refers to removing feelings of hostility or defensiveness.
   • To remove the fuse or triggering mechanism from an explosive device; to make something harmless: This meaning applies to rendering a weapon or dangerous object safe.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (transitive):
  • The police officers managed to disarm the suspect without anyone getting hurt.
  • Her sincere apology disarmed his anger.
  • The bomb squad worked quickly to disarm the device.

Advanced Usage

• "to disarm criticism": to remove the force or sting from criticism, often by addressing it effectively.
  • The CEO's transparent report disarmed much of the shareholders' criticism.
• "to be disarming" (adjective form): having the effect of allaying suspicion or hostility.
  • He has a disarming smile that makes people trust him immediately.

Variants and Related Words

• Disarmament (n): The act of reducing or eliminating military forces and weapons.
  • The treaty led to the disarmament of the region.
• Disarmed (adj): The state of having had weapons removed or hostility neutralized.
  • The disarmed soldiers were taken as prisoners.
• Disarming (adj): As described in 'Advanced Usage'.

Synonyms

• Demilitarize: To remove military forces or weapons from an area.
• Pacify: To bring peace or calm to; to soothe anger or agitation.
• Defuse: To make a situation less tense or dangerous (literally, to remove a fuse from a bomb).

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Disarm" is not commonly used with particles to form standard phrasal verbs. Its meanings are typically expressed directly.)

Related Idioms

• "To disarm someone with a smile/look": To use a friendly gesture to overcome someone's hostility or resistance.
  • She disarmed the tense committee with a smile before beginning her presentation.

Học thuật

Verb

1. take away the weapons from; render harmless
2. make less hostile; win over
   • Her charm disarmed the prosecution lawyer completely
3. remove offensive capability from

Từ đồng nghĩa

• unarm
• demilitarize
• demilitarise