Meanings
verbdefang (third-person singular simple present defangs, present participle defanging, simple past and past participle defanged)
present singular third person defangs · participle present defanging · participle past defanged · past defanged
- transitiveliteralTo remove the fangs from (something).
The snake was defanged.
- figurativelytransitiveTo render (something) harmless.
The Government's new security supremo, Admiral Sir Alan West, said the danger from home-grown and foreign terrorists was at its greatest level ever, and warned that it could take up to 15 years to defang Islamic radicalism.
2007 July 14, “The Roots of Terror”, in The Week, 622, 4
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*de
- Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
- Proto-Italic*dē
- Latindē
- Latindē-
- Englishde-
- Englishfang
- Englishdefang
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 去爪
- 去爪 (qùzhuǎ)render harmless
French dégriffer
- dégrifferrender harmless
German entkrallen
- entkrallenrender harmless
Greek ξεδοντιάζω
- ξεδοντιάζω (xedontiázo)render harmless
Lithuanian nukenksminti
- nukenksmintirender harmless
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with defang
ganglangwangmustangyangchangsangANGslangrangkangdangstangfangsprangpangthangPyongyangnangLaingmangShenyangHoangmeringue
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
defang. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defang
MLA
“defang.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defang. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “defang,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/defang.
Source: defang on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.