talk down

talk someone down 

1. to win at debating someone. Liz was able to talk her opponent down. She talked down her opponent.

2. to direct a novice pilot to make a safe landing by giving spoken instructions over the airplane's radio. The people on the ground talked down the amateur pilot successfully. I wonder how many movies have been made about someone talking a pilot down.

3. to convince someone to lower the price of something. The price tag said $2,000 for the car, but I talked down the salesman by threatening to go elsewhere. This is my final offer. Don't try to talk me down.

See also: talk

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talk down something also talk something down

to say that something is not very good or important Bonds is doing everything possible to talk down his achievements. I love this town, and I don't like to talk things down, but there are some real problems here that need to be dealt with.

See also: talk