tamp down
verb
- to compact, strike, or quell
Wiktionary
verb
- To compact a substance (usually soil) until it is flat.
- To suppress or reduce (something, usually an emotion or thought).
“Mr. Trump’s aides also have tried to tamp down questions about the former president’s frustrations, so as not to elevate Mr. DeSantis.”
“[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.””