Buds are the beginnings of flowers. If you 'nip the bud', it means you are taking away what would normally grow and become bigger. It is strange that such an analogy should be used to describe something negative - a growing flower is surely something good? In any case, this is a phrase meaning to stop bad habits forming by counteracting it early on.

Übersetzung:

etwas im Keim ersticken

Gegenteil(e)

to allow things to develop naturally

Synonym(e):

to put an immediate stop to something