Soft Pedal (noun) Definition, Meaning & Examples

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noun
  1. a pedal, as on a piano, for reducing tonal volume.
  2. something that restrains or dampens: to put a soft pedal on one's enthusiasm.
verb (used without object), soft-ped·aled, soft-ped·al·ing or (especially British) soft-ped·alled, soft-ped·al·ling.
  1. to use the soft pedal.
verb (used with object), soft-ped·aled, soft-ped·al·ing or (especially British) soft-ped·alled, soft-ped·al·ling.
  1. to soften the sound of by using the soft pedal.
  2. to tone or play down; make less strong, as an idea or fact: The dean soft-pedaled the reports of cheating.
verb -als, -alling or -alled or US -als, -aling or -aled (tr)
  1. to mute the tone of (a piano) by depressing the soft pedal
  2. to make (something, esp something unpleasant) less obvious by deliberately failing to emphasize or allude to it
noun soft pedal
  1. 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
Soft Pedal (noun) Definition, Meaning & Examples

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