defang the poisonous snake.    From Wordnet, Princeton University. 

Verb (used with object) : to defang a snake.    From Dictionary.com. 

During the early meetings, the president's inner circle outlined an elaborate effort to "defang" the opposition.    From Wordnik.com.  [Barack Obama, Campaign Manager: How The 2008 Playbook Passed Health Care] Reference

The White House has given Israel time to "defang" Hezbollah and is oddly silent as the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon grows.    From Wordnik.com.  [Think Progress » Kristol Suggests People of Iran Would Embrace U.S. Attack, Triggering Regime Change] Reference

You better stop hoping that Hillary will defang herself.    From Wordnik.com.  [Hillary Campaign Says No To New Michigan Delegate Proposal] Reference

Zakaria: I believe we will have to confront him and defang him.    From Wordnik.com.  [Question Time] Reference

The question is, are the Clintons going to help defang the PUMAs?.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Aug 25, 2008] Reference

And later, if only there were a way to defang a monster hurricane.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Oct 4, 2005] Reference

The military has already taken steps to defang don't ask, don't tell.    From Wordnik.com.  [Ruling Could Speed Demise of Military's Gay Ban] Reference

Washington hawks increasingly smell a late opportunity to defang Iran.    From Wordnik.com.  [OpEdNews - Quicklink: US a step closer to Iran blockade] Reference

But shale gas is going to defang the energy diplomacy of petro-nations.    From Wordnik.com.  [Shale Gas Will Rock the World] Reference

And what Barack Obama is trying to do at those meetings is to defang it.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jan 17, 2009] Reference

This will help to convince waverers and will defang some of the opposition.    From Wordnik.com.  [The 60-12 solution] Reference

But the GOP has conducted a long campaign to defang the IRS's ability to do that.    From Wordnik.com.  [The taxman should cometh] Reference

Perhaps his strategy is to get health care passed, then try to defang the amendment.    From Wordnik.com.  [Shan Wells: Cartoon: Iceberg Dead Ahead!] Reference

This will underline what should be our commitment to defang Iran's nuclear ambitions.    From Wordnik.com.  [Obama, the Neocons and Iran] Reference

He's very much aware of the fact that humor can be used to defang a problematic issue.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript - Larry King Live: President Clinton Draws Laughs at White House Correspondents' Dinner - May 1, 2000] Reference

And the White House will keep trying to defang the resolution by saying it is worthless.    From Wordnik.com.  [GOP Senators Again Block Debate On Escalation] Reference

And so it's very important that the international community disarm and defang Hezbollah.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Jul 25, 2006] Reference

Rudy Giuliani is a bully, and the best way to defang bullies is to fearlessly rebuke them.    From Wordnik.com.  [Jeff Norman: Rudy the Bully] Reference

Lawyers said the clause appears to defang the exclusivity pact between Wachovia and Citigroup.    From Wordnik.com.  [Fed Pushes to Resolve Wachovia Deal Dispute] Reference

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, how do you -- Darren Kavinoky, how do you defang a witness like this?.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Mar 31, 2009] Reference

Regulatory agencies may be captured by those they regulate, but it's much harder to defang a tax.    From Wordnik.com.  [Jay Mandle: Next Time, Tax 'Em] Reference

Kill two birds with one stone: Use the churches to help the poor, and defang the GOPs fundy support.    From Wordnik.com.  [Picking Rick Warren Brilliant Because It Riles Up The Left?] Reference

Or, maybe the unusual and atypical Obama can shake us out of it and defang our angry, little monsters.    From Wordnik.com.  [Logan Nakyanzi Pollard: Democrats Diminishing Horizon] Reference

I honestly don't think Obama used the "lipstick on a pig" line to defang the "lipstick" and "pitbull" line.    From Wordnik.com.  [Obama Campaign: McCain "Would Rather Lose His Integrity Than Lose An Election"] Reference

This first phase is intended to defang the regime and leave it vulnerable to future invasion or regime change.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Countdown to War with Iran] Reference

If you defang the O Boys and demand that they stick to the news and never reference each other, what's the point?.    From Wordnik.com.  [Lionel: Olbermann Versus O'Reilly: It's a Shoot] Reference

While these shifts don't defang the film, it's at best a distraction, and at worst threatens to reverse its momentum.    From Wordnik.com.  [Josh Bolotsky: When I Came Home: The Best Iraq Film in a Pool of One] Reference

Wholesale changes were made to defang the Minerals Management Service, the entity designed to regulate the drilling industry.    From Wordnik.com.  [Bill Donius: How Will the Oil Spill, Politically? Who Is in Charge?] Reference

Additionally, it would defang a potential rival to an emergent Israel, which sees itself as the prevailing power in the region.    From Wordnik.com.  [Avoiding a War with Iran] Reference

The Senate bill does include a weak version of the Volcker Rule that bank-friendly regulators can easily defang if they choose.    From Wordnik.com.  [Zach Carter: Six Key Fights for Wall Street Reform's Next Phase] Reference

Present stories that might help to make those 39% creationists think, or defang the stories, so as not to challenge those beliefs?.    From Wordnik.com.  [David Horton: Memories] Reference

Consequently, if the Brigade was meant to confront and defang insurgent forces inside Fallujah, it was compromised from the start.    From Wordnik.com.  [Fallujah, the Guernica of Our Times, Part 5] Reference

I wish your book would address these facts and the political maneuvering that it will take to defang this monster in the Whitehouse.    From Wordnik.com.  [Ultimately, Republicans Will Force Bush/Cheney Resignation] Reference

Obama has taken several steps in the past few weeks that show he is thinking strategically about how to defang Iran's nuclear threat.    From Wordnik.com.  [Jacob Heilbrunn: Obama's Shrewd Iran Policy] Reference

Obama has taken several steps in the past few weeks that show he is thinking strategically about how to defang Iran\'s nuclear threat.    From Wordnik.com.  [Jacob Heilbrunn: Obama's Shrewd Iran Policy] Reference