Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DEFANG
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English can be dark. It has so many figurative verbs for specific kinds of bodily maiming.
The word "fang" comes from Old English, and around the year 1555, it came to mean "a long, sharp tooth."
Part of speech:
The word "defang" is clear, colorful yet violent, and somewhat rare yet easy to understand. It's a more concrete alternative to vaguer terms like "tame" and "subdue."
"What better way to defang a secret society than to make public its most secret information?"
Explain the meaning of "defang" without saying "disarm" or "render toothless."
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone or something) defangs the more ferocious elements of (something)."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
1.
A near opposite of DEFANG is
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