nip in the bud

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This is a rare emergent epidemic that we can still nip in the bud.

From Salon • Oct. 19, 2023

That sets up the kind of clown-car spectacle that a Chief Justice Roberts—who would prefer to participate in this senate trial from behind a bulletproof screen—would perhaps be moved to nip in the bud.

From Slate • Jan. 15, 2020

Today, the Since 9/11 charity runs counter-extremism programs in British schools, aiming to nip in the bud the impulses that led to 9/11 and to the attacks that have since taken place in Britain.

From Washington Post • Sep. 10, 2018

Still, to nip in the bud any thought that Merritt might be mistaken for Richardson, "If he cut his hair, I would greatly appreciate it," the lanky Richardson said.

From Reuters • Jun. 27, 2012

Bud′dy; Bud′less.—To nip in the bud, to destroy at its very beginning.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various