Dictionary

defang en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /diːˈfæŋ/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin dē-der. English de- English fang English defang From de- + fang.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:literal, transitive) To remove the fangs from (something).
   • The snake was defanged.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To render (something) harmless.
   • The Government's new security supremo, Admiral Sir Alan West, said the danger from home-grown and foreign terrorists was at its greatest level ever, and warned that it could take up to 15 years to defang Islamic radicalism. 2007 July 14, “The Roots of Terror”, in The Week, 622, 4:

Forms

Synonyms

detooth (render harmless) · declaw (render harmless)

Translations (7)

fr dégriffer (render harmless) · nn ta brodden av (render harmless) · nn avklora (render harmless) · el ξεδοντιάζω (render harmless) · de entkrallen (render harmless) · lt nukenksminti (render harmless) · cmn 去爪 (render harmless)