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soft pedal definition

soft pedal

a pedal used to soften or dampen the tone of a piano or any of certain other musical instruments
soft-pedal definition

soft·-pedal (sôft′ped′'l, säft′-)

transitive verb soft-pedaled -·aled or soft-pedalled -·alled, soft-pedaling -·aling or soft-pedalling -·alling

  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

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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