stem the tide

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stem the tide (third-person singular simple present stems the tide, present participle stemming the tide, simple past and past participle stemmed the tide)

1. (idiomatic) To slow or stop the flow of something.
   • 1980 December 6, Nancy Stockwell, “Reaching Into Electoral Politics”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 20, page 4:

     To insure a future is crucial; it is crucial because gay communities and lesbian and gay-male citizens can conceivably become the next singled-out "target" in the "targeting" capability of the self-proclaimed Moral Majority and other groups with the same kind of agenda. Virginia Beach's vote to outlaw Our Own newspaper in its libraries is a concrete example of a tide we cannot depend on future courts to stem.

   • 2024 February 20, “UN Food Agency pauses deliveries to the North of Gaza”, in World Food Program‎:

     The plan was to send 10 trucks of food for seven straight days, to help stem the tide of hunger and desperation and to begin building trust in communities that there would be enough food for all.

   The news report stemmed the tide of concerned calls, but didn't stop them altogether.