defuse
dee-FYOOZverbMeaning to calm a tense or dangerous situation
Memory hook DE-FUSE: put out the FUSE before the BOOM. Kai and Dev are about to blow up at each other. Ada pours water on the sizzling fuse of their fight: she defuses it.
Pip defused the argument at the dinner table by making everyone laugh.
In context Tempers were rising at the neighborhood meeting until a calm voice defused the situation; she suggested a short break, and everyone came back ready to listen.
Similar calm, ease, settle, smooth over
Opposite inflame, escalate, provoke
From de- (remove) + fuse: first, to take the fuse out of a bomb so it cannot go off; then, to calm a situation before it explodes.