abate, absorb the shock, adjust to, affect, agree, allay, alleviate, allow for, alter, anesthetize, appease, assent, assuage, attemper, baffle, bank the fire, benumb, blunt, blur, box in, break the fall, castrate, chasten, circumscribe, color, come home to, concur, condition, consent, constrain, control, cushion, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, deaden, deaden the pain, deafen, decry, defocus, demasculinize, devaluate, devalue, dim, diminish, downplay, dull, ease, ease matters, ease up, effeminate, effeminatize, effeminize, emasculate, extenuate, film, fluff, fog, foment, geld, gentle, give in, give relief, give way, gloss over, go deep, go through one, grieve, hedge, hedge about, ignore, keep within bounds, knead, laxate, lay, leaven, lenify, lessen, let up, lighten, limber, limber up, limit, loosen, lose resolution, lower, lull, make allowance for, mark down, mash, massage, mellow, melt, melt the heart, milden, mince, mist, mitigate, moderate, modify, modulate, mollify, move, muffle, mute, narrow, neutralize, numb, obtund, offset, pad, pale, palliate, penetrate, pierce, play down, plump, poultice, pour balm into, pour oil on, pulp, qualify, quell, quiet, quieten, reach, reduce, reduce the temperature, regulate by, relax, relieve, restrain, restrict, sadden, salve, season, set conditions, set limits, shake up, show consideration, show mercy, show pity, sissify, slacken, slake, slow down, slur over, smart, smash, smother, sober, sober down, soft-pedal, soften the blow, soften up, soothe, squash, stifle, still, sting, stir, stop, stupe, subdue, succumb, supple, suppress, surrender, tame, temper, tenderize, tone down, touch, touch a chord, tune down, turn down, underplay, underrate, undervalue, varnish, weaken, whitewash, womanize, write down, write off, yield