sand off
verb1
To make smooth or blunt by sandpapering.
2
Figuratively To remove the rough elements or imperfections from.
- Some so-called establishment Republicans, alarmed by the rise of the ethnonationalist wing of the party, comfort themselves with the belief that this movement can be domesticated, absorbed into the traditional coalition with its sharp edges sanded off.2017 October 21, Peter Wehner, “Going Against the Republican Herd”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 18 Jul 2020:
- De Niro veers dangerously close to caricature—making chirpy noises, always tilting his head, adding dashes of comedy—yet he ends up personifying evil while never sanding off the edges of this horrible man or trying to explain away his misdeeds with a humanist approach.2023 October 18, Murtada Elfadl, “Killers Of The Flower Moon review: Martin Scorsese's uniquely American tragedy”, in AV Club, archived from the original on 05 Nov 2023: