nipped 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.
Had a military coup been nipped in the bud?
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026
Ideally, it should have been nipped in the bud when the first cases appeared in May and June outside West and Central Africa, where monkeypox has been endemic for decades.
From Washington Post • Jul. 15, 2022
“This needs to be nipped in the bud right now before it happens again.”
From Seattle Times • Jun. 16, 2022
Abdullah later said in a televised address that the "sedition has been nipped in the bud" and that Hamzah was "with his family in his palace under my protection".
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2022
If they had known the various tender passages which had been nipped in the bud, they would have had the immense satisfaction of saying, “I told you so.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
