What's the difference between assuage and defuse?

Assuage


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To soften, in a figurative sense; to allay, mitigate, ease, or lessen, as heat, pain, or grief; to appease or pacify, as passion or tumult; to satisfy, as appetite or desire.
  • (v. i.) To abate or subside.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) But the fact Yellen is even being considered is a feat in itself as central banking is still an old boy’s club, Cooper adds: The new Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney may have assuaged feminists with his choice of Jane Austen for the ten pound note, but his Monetary Policy Committee is female free.
  • (2) Their frustration at the failure here cannot be underestimated and it cannot be easily assuaged through more elections.
  • (3) He had also insisted on construction continuing at Arak, and suggested that international concerns could be assuaged if the work stopped short of putting uranium fuel in the reactor and turning it on.
  • (4) Nonetheless, he achieved much in his six months in charge: he implemented Oslo II ahead of schedule, assuaged the religious right, bolstered the economy and co-operated with Arafat over the first-ever Palestinian elections.
  • (5) Initial findings of a limited study of one of the groups suggest a high degree of agreement among parent-members as to the ameliorative effect of this type of therapy, notably its capacity to assuage feelings of isolation.
  • (6) Moreover, she explains, seeing off the paedo-menace has yielded other improvements: the child protection sessions are part of a council drive to assuage community fears that has been careful to take grass-roots sentiment on board.
  • (7) Before it is realised, however, pioneers like Amazon will have to assuage the doubts of privacy activists concerned about the impact on civil liberties and of government regulators worried about how flying robots would interact with manned aircraft.
  • (8) It was a highly provocative gesture that did nothing to assuage fears that Morsi’s election marked the gateway to a more extremist Egypt.
  • (9) Water or diluted fruit juice may be used to assuage thirst, but should not supplant milk even in the later stages of weaning, since they contain no calcium or most other essential micronutrients.
  • (10) Fahmy's announcement may assuage concerns that the new army-installed government that replaced Morsi's is attempting to stall a return to democratic politics.
  • (11) While Wednesday's ruling could be seen as a victory for the PDRC, it is unlikely to assuage protesters, who may now turn on the new caretaker prime minister, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Thailand's Institute of Security and International Studies.
  • (12) This protocol provides a systematic approach to investigation and analysis, prioritizes the need for more in-depth study, and, when necessary, assuages community concerns when a disease cluster is reported.
  • (13) However, it is unclear if Clinton’s opposition to Arctic drilling, and support of Keystone pipeline, will assuage liberals who accuse her of political maneuvering in the face of a surprisingly successful challenge from Sanders.
  • (14) The 57-year-old issued a full apology to "patients, relatives and carers [who] found themselves in the position where they not only had terrible things happen to them but the very organisation they looked to for support let them down in the most devastating of ways" – but this did little to assuage the anger felt.
  • (15) The US Senate's defeat of a background check expansion three weeks ago did nothing to assuage the fears of Missouri Republicans, who pressed forward with their legislation.
  • (16) But the cash has only gone some way towards assuaging critics, one of whom complained that companies should not be able to "pick and choose" how much tax they wanted to pay.
  • (17) The limitation will go some way to assuage the concerns of German taxpayers whose frustration at the prospect of having to bail out indebted southern European countries indefinitely has been on the rise.
  • (18) Acupuncture assuaged the emotional, but not the sensory, response to the painful stimulation.
  • (19) Both feeding patterns involve assuagement of hunger needs but are dependent on social setting.
  • (20) The top US commander in Afghanistan rushed to assuage those concerns, saying the deal was not a "zero option" that would leave the country's security forces isolated after 2016, acknowledging critical components such as the fledgling air force would probably get intense and longer-term support.

Defuse


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To disorder; to make shapeless.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Barack Obama today phoned the white policeman he said had "acted stupidly" in arresting a black Harvard professor in his own home and invited the officer to visit the White House as the president attempted to defuse a growing race row over the incident.
  • (2) Moments later, Deputy Chief Tom Roberts, of Las Vegas Metro, defused the situation by delivering the announcement that Cliven Bundy's cattle would be returned within 30 minutes.
  • (3) Winning a global consensus would defuse the Russia versus the west stand-off and put Putin under huge moral and international pressure to agree.
  • (4) Church leaders in Kisumu, in the west of Kenya that was devastated five years ago, sought to defuse tension this time.
  • (5) All the parents … worry about their children because the kids need to go to school but safety and security … is a big concern.” The Nauruan government has made efforts to defuse local hostility.
  • (6) What came out instead was a substantive document, involving concrete steps towards defusing the crisis.
  • (7) After a week in which Obama has been accused of failing to deal openly with crises such as the the targeting of Tea Party activists by the Internal Revenue Service, the White House hope it can defuse concern over drones and Guantánamo by being more transparent about its objectives.
  • (8) But to defuse any possible tensions, the authorities had decided that the teams should mix together as they lined up and that the Marseillaise should be sung by Lââm, a young R&B singer of Franco-Tunisian extraction.
  • (9) And she attacked Chancellor George Osborne and Chief Whip Michael Gove for failing to use their "very, very close" relations with the Israeli Government to defuse the crisis.
  • (10) Three seasons in the media spotlight in Madrid have clearly done him no harm, and when a potentially mischievous question comes along about England temporarily transferring their support to Wales he defuses it politely and diplomatically.
  • (11) A month later the company offered to pay £10m a year in corporate taxes in Britain for two years as it sought to defuse mounting protests.
  • (12) Enemies dismiss its moderate image and claim it is no different from Shia hardliners such as Mushayma, who called for a republic to replace the Al Khalifa dynasty, launched a campaign of civil disobedience and destroyed a dialogue between the opposition and the reformist Crown Prince Salman that might – just – have defused the crisis.
  • (13) The code, introduced in February by the Association of British Bookmakers, was meant to tighten betting controls and defuse criticism of FOBTs, on which punters can bet up to £300 a minute.
  • (14) Ronald “ count me in as a rebel ” Reagan won the presidency in 1980, but his administration actually defused the movement with a plan to sell the land to private owners – owners who would not share grazing rights with the rebellious ranchers.
  • (15) My wife thinks I will come home one day in pieces in a box.” Hom had been defusing bombs, rockets and shells for five of his 20 years in the Gaza police.
  • (16) The health secretary moved to defuse widespread anger at his threat to impose new terms and conditions on them by offering two major concessions and assurances that they will not see their pay cut or working hours extended .
  • (17) He dismisses as "recycling" a pact announced by the prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault – a former Breton mayor – last month to defuse the red caps' protests, providing for €2m of investment in the region.
  • (18) The patient's behaviour secondary to the defusion is discussed from the point of view of social significance as well as potential dangerousness.
  • (19) In Beit Lahiya, he defused a 1,000kg bomb that had landed in a bike repair shop.
  • (20) On Wednesday, as Hom set out to defuse the 500kg bomb which killed him, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were continuing indirect talks in Cairo aimed at a putting a durable ceasefire in place.