Phrasal verb
damp down
Definition
phrasal verb. to make a feeling or a situation less strong or intense. You use this when you want to stop something from growing or becoming too excited.
phrasal verb. to reduce the intensity or vigour of an emotion, reaction, or activity; to suppress or stifle something to prevent it from spreading.
Examples
“The government tried to damp down the rumors about the new tax.”
“The central bank raised interest rates to damp down inflation and slow the economy's growth.”
“Despite the spokesperson's efforts to damp down public anger, the controversial policy change sparked widespread protests across the capital.”
Examples
simple
“The government tried to damp down the rumors about the new tax.”
contextual
“The central bank raised interest rates to damp down inflation and slow the economy's growth.”
complex
“Despite the spokesperson's efforts to damp down public anger, the controversial policy change sparked widespread protests across the capital.”
Usage
often used with abstract nouns like 'excitement', 'enthusiasm', 'fears', or 'protests'.
Teaching tip
the literal origin refers to reducing the flow of air to a fire to make it burn more slowly; this image helps students understand the figurative sense of 'cooling' a situation.
Pitfall
They damped the noise down.
They damped down the noise.
while technically optional in separability, this phrasal verb is almost always kept together when used figuratively with abstract objects.
Phrasal verb
Particles
down
Separability
optional
Pattern
damp + down + object