to nip in the bud
21
5.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
cortar de raíz
- To prevent further issues, we need to nip the problem in the bud before it escalates.
- got to nip this in the bud
- need to nip it in the bud
- try to nip it in the bud
So you've got to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.
- So you've got to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.
- So we want to nip it in the bud as quickly as possible.
- I'm going to get wrinkles here, so I need to like, nip those in the bud.
- And if anything goes wrong in that, it's a director's job to either nip it in the bud, you know, or fix it.
- So I can, you know, maybe shift my behavior or my environment a little bit to nip that in the bud so that doesn't come up next time.
- And the way you nip it in the bud is you try rather than dreaming how amazing this idea is.
Examples
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I was thinking I'd just nip it in the bud before it gets worse.
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This must be nipped in the bud.
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So we want to nip it in the bud as quickly as possible.
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I think we should nip this in the bud.
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I just want to nip this thing in the bud, whatever it is.
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I gotta nip this in the bud.
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I try to nip it in the bud.
Fiction book (1993) -
We need to get to the root of these problems and nip them in the bud.
Blog text (13) -
If commodity prices start increasing, it's best to nip it in the bud.
Blog text (34) -
After last year's hazing scandals, we want to nip this one in the bud.
Fiction book (1999)
Synonyms
23
4.8
Stop something from happening by acting early
11
4.3
To slow down an activity or stop it
Antonyms
How Early
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to stop something at an early stage' is partly inferable from combining 'nip' (to pinch/snip) with 'bud' (an early growth stage): the image of snipping a bud before it grows makes the intended meaning accessible. However, this is a metaphorical extension rather than a literal compositional meaning, so a B1 learner may need to make a figurative inference or have prior exposure for full comprehension.
Etymology
The idiom nip in the bud comes from gardening. Gardeners would nip a small bud so it could not grow into a flower, so the phrase means 'to stop something at an early stage'.