Wiktionary
take the edge off
vb. To diminish the effects of something enough to make it tolerable; to dull.
Usage examples of "take the edge off".
Coroner checked her out, said she was tough, gave her something to take the edge off, make her sleepy.
Something mild enough to take the edge off inhibition, but not sufficiently incapacitating to blunt the libido.
Judith sat outside with the offworlder, the refrigeration stick turned up just enough to take the edge off the afternoon heat.
Pedaling a bicycle a good many hours a day, he thought wryly, was liable to take the edge off other physical urges.