From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsubduesub‧due /səbˈdjuː $ -ˈduː/ verb [transitive] 1 STOP something THAT IS HAPPENINGto defeat or control a person or group, especially using force Police managed to subdue the angry crowd. Napoleon subdued much of Europe.2 formalSTOP HAPPENING to prevent your emotions from showing or being too strong SYN control an excitement she could not subdue→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
subdue• Its tone is obtrusive and difficult to subdue.• He felt the urge to apologize, but then subdued it.• These techniques smooth ruffled feathers, paper over cracks, subdue ominous rumblings.• The soldiers managed to subdue the angry crowd.• Security guards used pepper spray to subdue the man.• Government forces have managed to subdue the rebels.• Mostly they have been military, the attempt of one nation to subdue the rest.• The marines arrived, subdued the sailors, and took them back to the base.• The army has been used to subdue unrest in the country's capital.Origin subdue (1300-1400) Old French soduire “to lead into bad actions”, from Latin subducere “to remove”; influenced by Latin subdere “to force to obey” 