To calm something or someone who is tenacious or misbehaving.

Etymology:

  • From the ancient practice of pouring oil on the sea's waves to calm them.
56 Views

I better go pour oil on those troubled waters the children are making over there.

Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'pour oil on troubled waters':

Pour Oil on Troubled WatersTo calm down the tense situation, to sooth someone in anger or tension
See them all »

Translation

Find a translation for the pour oil on troubled waters phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to pour oil on troubled waters

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this pour oil on troubled waters phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this pour oil on troubled waters definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "pour oil on troubled waters." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/pour-oil-on-troubled-waters_6210>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    They're stuck in the _______ race.
    A longest
    B worst
    C rat
    D best

    Browse Phrases.com