clear the air

English

Verb

clear the air (third-person singular simple present clears the air, present participle clearing the air, simple past and past participle cleared the air)

1. To assuage a hostile or uncomfortable situation.

   Antonym: add fuel to the fire

   • 1976 August 7, Kathy Guilmette, “Devil's Advocate”, in Gay Community News, page 4:

     After much bitter in-fighting over the issue of the BF and other issues, I felt it was time to clear the air rather than deal in back-biting.

   • 2014, David Judson, Are You Attackable?: Embracing God During the Battles In Life:

     This relationship began when you went to the Father and cleared the air by asking Him to forgive your past mistakes and sins.

   • 2023 December 23, “Blind date: ‘He said he’d like to marry me’”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Good table manners?
     Yep. He cleared the air by expressing his nervousness about using chopsticks.

Translations

to assuage a hostile situation

• Finnish: puhdistaa ilmapiiriä, puhdistaa ilmaa
• French: crever l’abcès (fr), mettre les choses au clair, détendre l’atmosphère
• Polish: oczyszczać atmosferę impf, oczyścić atmosferę pf
• Russian: разряди́ть атмосфе́ру (razrjadítʹ atmosféru)
• Spanish: apaciguar los ánimos, templar gaitas, aclarar las cosas
• Swedish: rensa luften

See also

• dust settles
• pour oil on troubled waters