pour oil on troubled water(s)

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pour oil on troubled water(s)

To calm or settle a tense situation. If those two are arguing again, send Mom in to talk to them—she's great at pouring oil on troubled waters.

pour oil on troubled water(s)

Fig. to calm someone or something down. (A thin layer of oil will actually calm a small area of a rough sea.) Don can calm things down. He's good at pouring oil on troubled waters. Alice is very good at pouring oil on troubled water.

See also: oil, on, pour, trouble, water

pour oil on troubled waters

Soothe or calm down something or someone, as in The twins are quarreling so I'd best go pour oil on troubled waters. This term alludes to an ancient practice of pouring oil on ocean waves to calm their turbulence, which was mentioned in the eighth century. [Mid-1800s]

See also: oil, on, pour, trouble, water

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pour oil on troubled waters

If you pour oil on troubled waters, you do or say something to make people friendly again after an argument. He is an extremely experienced politician, who some diplomats believe may be able to pour oil on troubled waters. Friends are a blessing — they pour oil on troubled waters, drag you to parties and make you feel loved. Note: It has been known for a long time that pouring oil on rough water could calm it. The Greek author Plutarch mentioned it in about 95 AD: `Why does pouring oil on the sea make it still and calm?'

See also: oil, on, pour, trouble, water

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

pour oil on troubled waters

try to settle a disagreement or dispute with words intended to placate or pacify those involved.

See also: oil, on, pour, trouble, water

pour oil on troubled ˈwater(s)

try to settle a disagreement or dispute; take action which will calm a tense or dangerous situation: He was always having rows with his son and his wife’s attempts to pour oil on troubled water usually made things worse. ♢ There’s going to be big trouble unless somebody pours oil on troubled waters fast. OPPOSITE: add fuel to the fire/flamesSailors used to pour oil on a rough sea to calm the water in order to make a sea rescue easier.

See also: oil, on, pour, trouble, water

pour oil on troubled waters, to

To soothe a turbulent situation; to calm down angry persons. This term refers to an ancient practice of pouring oil on ocean waves to decrease their violence. It was mentioned in Bede’s Ecclesiastical History (a.d. 731), which tells of an Irish monk giving a priest holy oil to pour on the sea during a storm. The term was eventually transferred to smoothing over matters of any kind. “Disraeli poured oil and calmed the waters,” reported W. B. Baring, writing about the British statesman (Croker Papers, 1847).