defuse a situation

"You do have a knack for defusing a situation," Shelby said.

"Supper's ready," their mother said, another way of defusing a situation that could get sticky.

"Tell me," he said theatrically, in an attempt to defuse a situation that was rapidly going out of control.

Last season, Whalen successfully defused a situation that could have deteriorated into a quarterback controversy.

Beth's quiet voice defused a situation that David was incapable of handling; she knew that.

"Trust you to try to defuse a situation, Yana.

Hostage situations anywhere are morally ambiguous for journalists, whose presence may inflame or defuse a situation.

It's about life and philosophy, and how to turn a negative into a positive, how to defuse a situation by the way you handle it.

The vague, face-saving agreement was enough, however, to defuse a situation that earlier in the day seemed about to erupt in violence.

Recently, he said, he used his talents to defuse a situation in which an aggressive youth approached him on the street, yelling, "What are you looking at?"

Now the secretary has returned to try to defuse a situation that has threatened Washington's larger strategic interests and set off protests throughout the Arab world.

He thinks that more social interaction between officials and coaches can lead to more understanding, communication and the chance to defuse a situation of mounting volatility.

When Tony goes to her office, she helps him defuse a situation with some terrorists from the group E.G.G..

Possibly the Russian skipper had thought he was under attack and decided that a fast surface was the only way to defuse a situation suddenly gone out of hand.

How many times had he told Riker to always look for another way out, a way to defuse a situation rather than stubbornly insisting on proving a point?

In any case, it's Sweden and their principle always is that if it is necessary to defuse a situation, it is best to defuse it swiftly."

With Deep Space Nine now a dangerous minefield, Sisko must defuse a situation that threatens the very existence of the planet Bajor.

"If the staff are not trained to defuse a situation and calm a child, they often resort to physical restraints," said Clarence J. Sundram, chairman of the commission.

Mr. Huang's release defuses a situation that threatened to become a major political embarrassment for China, at a time when its government is preparing to open a $7 million celebration of Chinese culture this week in the United States.

This unlikely acrobatic skill, perfected when he was a St. Albans schoolboy, tends to find expression when the vice president is bored or keen to defuse a situation, but it is also an apt motif for a life spent juggling rival forces, internal, familial and political.

Callahan defuses a situation wherein a man named Gus Wheeler, rumored to be responsible for the murders, tries to get on the TV news by dousing himself in gasoline and threatening to light himself on fire if he even sees a fire truck or hose.

It had been U.s. armed forces, on the direct order Of the President, who had stepped in to oust Dupre, not only to put a stop to the atrocities he committed, but also to defuse a situation that had the potential to explode and drag in the rest of the Caribbean.