nip in the bud

Verb

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 (from a plant) 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.
   • 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.1606, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, The Woman Hater, published 1718, act III, scene I