stop the rot

/stˈɒp ðə ɹˈɒt/

/stˈɑːp ðə ɹˈɑːt/

[phrase]

to stop the rot

[PHRASE]

to prevent something from developing into something worse

Examples

1. The team stopped the rot with a 5–0 win last night.

2. Club legend Kevin Ball took over for the final ten games of the season, but he couldn’t stop the rot.

3. Leeds failed to stop the rot in the Championship and were forced to dismantle the squad further and sell both their training ground and their stadium in 2004.

4. Germany’s Winfried Schafer could not stop the rot, losing in the 2012 AFF Cup final and departing during the 2015 Asian Cup qualification campaign that saw the Thais suffer six defeats out of six.