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Glite Dictionary
to pour oil on troubled waters

to pour oil on troubled waters

7.7
To say or do something to calm a tense situation between people
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : calmar las aguas
  • "Good man, Jack," she thought, "always the one to pour oil on troubled waters."

Examples

  • Whenever arguments arise in meetings, she knows how to pour oil on troubled waters to maintain harmony.

  • Pour oil on troubled water

    Paranoid (2000)

  • In times of conflict, his wise words can easily pour oil on troubled waters and soothe frayed nerves.

  • To avoid tension, it's important to pour oil on troubled waters during difficult discussions.

Synonyms

to simmer down
vsto pour oil on troubled waters
  • Informal
14 4.1

To become calm after strong feelings or to tell someone else to calm down

involves calming a tense situation by doing or saying something
to pacify
vsto pour oil on troubled waters
11 5.2

To calm someone who is angry or upset

is about calming a tense situation through words or actions
to mollify
vsto pour oil on troubled waters
8 7.2

To make someone less angry or upset

focuses on calming a difficult tense situation rather than only softening anger

Antonyms

to escalate
220 5.5

To become larger, more serious, or more intense

to provoke
115 3.7

Cause a reaction or feeling

How Calm

to pour oil on troubled waters
  • Informal
7.7
to settle
540 2.8
to soothe
63 3.4
to calm
962 1.0
to reassure
163 3.4

Surface Forms

pour oil on troubled waters infinitive
poured oil on troubled waters past
poured oil on troubled waters past participle
pouring oil on troubled waters present participle
pours oil on troubled waters third person singular

Morphology

pour + oil + on + troubled + waters

The image of pouring oil onto rough water to calm the surface creates a clear metaphorical link to calming a tense situation, so speakers who know the constituent words can often guess the general idea. However, this relies on specific encyclopedic knowledge (that oil can calm water) and a metaphorical mapping from physical to social calmness, so the exact idiomatic sense is not fully predictable for an uninstructed B1 learner.

Etymology

The idiom pour oil on troubled waters comes from old sailors who would pour oil on troubled waters to calm the waves, so the phrase now means 'to calm a tense situation'.