soft pedal
soft pedal — noun
1. on a standard piano, the foot pedal on the far left that produces a softer, more
on a standard piano, the foot pedal on the far left that produces a softer, more muffled tone by reducing the force with which the hammers strike the strings
Yuki pressed the soft pedal with her left foot to make the melody sound gentle.
collocation: press the soft pedal
The old piano's soft pedal was stuck, so every note came out at full volume.
During the quiet section of the sonata, the pianist held the soft pedal down.
Mei's piano teacher taught her to balance the soft pedal and the sustain pedal.
Without the soft pedal, the baby would wake up every time James practiced his scales.
- una corda pedal
the technical name for the same mechanism on grand pianos
- sustain pedal
the rightmost pedal that holds notes longer
文法句型
the soft pedal
press/use/hold the soft pedal
用法筆記
The soft pedal is the leftmost of the three pedals on a standard piano. It reduces the volume but does not completely silence the instrument.
常見錯誤
soft pedal — verb
- soft pedalpresent simple I / you / we / they
- softs pedal3rd person singular
- softing pedal-ing form
- softed pedalpast simple
1. to describe a problem or negative situation as less serious or important than th
to describe a problem or negative situation as less serious or important than the true facts would suggest
The manager soft-pedalled the news of the layoffs during the team meeting.
pattern: soft-pedal + noun phrase (bad news)
Kwame did not soft pedal his anger when the contractor missed the deadline.
register: informal; common in negative constructions
The company report soft-pedalled the environmental damage caused by the new factory.
Sophie wished her brother would stop soft-pedalling the seriousness of his illness.
Doctors sometimes soft pedal the side effects of a treatment to avoid frightening patients.
- downplay
more common and neutral; 'soft pedal' is more informal
- play down
phrasal verb, same meaning, equally informal
- understate
more formal; implies deliberate restraint rather than covering up
文法句型
soft-pedal + noun phrase
soft-pedal + the fact that…
用法筆記
Frequently used in negative constructions (e.g., 'did not soft pedal') to emphasise that someone was direct and honest. Often hyphenated as 'soft-pedal' in verb form.