atmosphere



clear the atmosphere

To alleviate tension, often in a group setting. Similar to the phrase "clear the air." I know my parents are still mad at me for missing curfew, so I'm going to try to clear the atmosphere this morning by apologizing profusely.
See also: atmosphere, clear

you could cut the atmosphere with a knife

something that you say to describe a situation in which everyone is feeling very angry or nervous and you feel that something unpleasant could soon happen There was a lot of tension between Diane and Carol; you could cut the atmosphere in that room with a knife.
See Fish or cut bait, cut through like a knife through butter, to cut a long story short
See also: atmosphere, could, cut, knife

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Annett['ænit]
Hema-Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada
Pernilleper-NEEL-leDanish, Norwegian
HugoOO-go (Spanish), HYOO-go (English), HUY-kho (Dutch), HOO-go (German)Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Ancient Germanic (
Semen-Ukrainian, Russian
BlancheBLAWNSH (French), BLANCH (English)French, English