soft pedal Hear it!

soft pedal Definition

soft pedal

noun

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

soft-pedal Definition

soft·-pedal (sôftped′'l, säft-)

transitive verb -·aled or -·alled, -·aling or -·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

soft pedal Usage Examples

Object

  • uniqueness: Are we tempted to soft pedal the uniqueness of Christ in our politically correct and supposedly pluralistic society?