nip in the bud

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈnɪp.ɪn.ðəˈbʌd/

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nip in the bud (third-person singular simple present nips in the bud, present participle nipping in the bud, simple past and past participle nipped in the bud)

1. To remove a bud to prevent flower and fruit from forming.
2. (idiomatic) To stop (something) at an early stage.

   If you see a bad habit begin to develop, try to nip it in the bud so that it does not become ingrained.

   • 1606, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, The Woman Hater, published 1718, act III, scene I:

     Ori. I do confeſs I'm too eaſie, too much Woman, / Not coy enough to take Affection, / Yet I can frown and nip a Paſſion, / Even in the Bud: I can ſay / Men pleaſe their preſent Heats; then pleaſe to leave Us.

   • 2020 February 21, Agence France-Presse, “Germany shooting: chants of 'Nazis out' at vigils after gunman kills nine”, in The Guardian‎:

     “I couldn’t be any more upset,” said Inge Bank, 82, who lives near the bar. “We have to nip it in the bud if the Nazi party is coming back.

   • 2020 July 1, Christian Wolmar, “Jumping on the slavery bandwagon... but the facts don't stack up”, in Rail, page 66:

     These myths need to be nipped in the bud before they become conventional wisdom.

• “nip something in the bud”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• Gary Martin (1997–) “Nip in the bud”, in The Phrase Finder.