tamp down

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

tamp down (third-person singular simple present tamps down, present participle tamping down, simple past and past participle tamped down)

1. To compact a substance (usually soil) until it is flat.
2. (idiomatic, by extension) To suppress or reduce (something, usually an emotion or thought).
   • 2022 January 17, Jonathan Martin, Maggie Haberman, “Who Is King of Florida? Tensions Rise Between Trump and a Former Acolyte.”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Mr. Trump’s aides also have tried to tamp down questions about the former president’s frustrations, so as not to elevate Mr. DeSantis.

   • 2024 September 11, Richard Brody, ““Winner” Takes Political Comedy Seriously”, in The New Yorker‎^[2]:

     [Tina] Satter’s “Reality” has a dramatic vigor that’s missing from the corresponding scenes in [Susanna] Fogel’s “Winner,” but the tamped-down tone in “Winner” is actually closer to the actual tone of those interrogations, as heard firsthand in yet another film—Sonia Kennebeck’s 2021 documentary, “Reality Winner.”

Translations

To compact a substance

• German: komprimieren (de), stampfen (de), verdichten (de), feststampfen (de)

To suppress something

• German: unterdrücken (de), etwas unterdrücken