soften up

/sˈɒfən ˈʌp/

/sˈɔfən ˈʌp/

to soften up

MAIN VERB

[phrase form: soften]

to be very nice to someone so that the chance of them agreeing to do what one wants is increased

*** to make an enemy weaker so that they are easier to attack

*** to make something less hard or rough