subdue
verb
- to reduce in intensity
- to gain power over something or someone
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /səbˈdu/ / /səbˈdjuː/ / /səbˈdʒuː/
verb
Etymology: From Middle English subdewen, subduen, sodewen, from Old French souduire, from Latin subdūcō (“to draw away”), perhaps influenced by subdō (“to subdue, subject”).
- To overcome, quieten, or bring under control.
“And when their ſcattered armie is ſubdu’d: And you march on their ſlaughtered carkaſſes, Share equally the gold that bought their liues, And liue like Gentlmen in Perſea, […]”
“Gary Cahill, a target for Arsenal and Tottenham before the transfer window closed, put England ahead early on and Rooney was on target twice before the interval as the early hostility of the Bulgarian supporters was swiftly subdued.”
- To bring (a country) under control by force.
“In the run-up to his return to the White House next Monday, Mr. Trump has rattled the world, and America’s neighborhood in particular, with a list of objectives – buying Greenland, seizing the Panama Canal, making Canada the 51st state – that treat friendly nations as weak interlocutors and impediments to be subdued.”