Defuse vs Diffuse
defuse
to calm/de-escalate
diffuse
to spread out
How to tell them apart
deFUSE a bomb: pull the FUSE to calm the danger. diFfuse has two F's spreading apart, like something spread out.
Test yourself
Fill in the blank: “Only one of these words means to calm/de-escalate. That word is ______.”
Choose: defuse or diffuse
Show answer
Answer: defuse
Defuse means to calm/de-escalate, which matches to calm/de-escalate. Diffuse means to spread out, so it is the wrong choice here.
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