take away from

take something away from someone/something

to reduce the praise earned by a person or group. She did a lot to help people, and no one should ever try to take that away from her. We made some mistakes, but I don't want to take anything away from Iowa State — they played a great game.

See also: away, from, take

---

take away from something

1. to reduce something. You know the company will cut jobs because it will not allow anything to take away from profits.

2. to make something less important. I don't want to take away from his achievement, but I think he should have thanked his colleagues for their help. Wearing that kind of outfit takes away from your dignity and self-respect.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of take away (= to remove or subtract one thing from another)

See also: away, from, take