Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

She declined to answer questions on whether tensions had been defused with Washington.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2026

The summit will offer Brussels the chance to turn the page after a bruising transatlantic crisis over Greenland -- now seemingly defused.

From Barron's • Jan. 24, 2026

The crisis over Greenland, though defused through a compromise negotiated by North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Mark Rutte, already has many European leaders worrying about long-term damage.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

Traders will weigh whether the risk in Iran is “genuinely defused or simply resting,” because calm in the Persian Gulf has a “habit of braking without warning,” he added.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 16, 2026

And I took great care to appear so deeply, thoroughly unmoved by the whole photo debacle that the mess defused itself in a matter of days.

From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi