steady the ship

• right the ship

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

steady the ship (third-person singular simple present steadies the ship, present participle steadying the ship, simple past and past participle steadied the ship)

1. (idiomatic) To bring under control.
   • 2011, Phil McNulty, Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England‎:

     As England attempted to steady the ship, the Rooney flashpoint occurred 17 minutes from time. He was involved in little more than a routine battle for possession near the touchline before lashing out at Dzudovic.

   • 2016 June 28, Jane Dudman, “In this Brexit turmoil we’ll need our civil servants to steady the ship”, in The Guardian‎:

     In this Brexit turmoil we’ll need our civil servants to steady the ship [title]

   • 2022 May 13, Eva Corlett, “As the shine comes off NZ Labour, Grant Robertson hopes his budget can steady the ship”, in The Guardian‎:

     If there is a moment to steady the ship, it is now. For [Grant] Robertson, that means investing significantly in the worn-out health system and pumping money into climate change solutions – big-ticket concerns he says he “owes to people”.

   • 2023 September 30, Hannah Murphy, “The wildest job in Silicon Valley”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 17:

     Early on, Musk brought in a team of executives and staffers from elsewhere in his business empire, including Tesla and The Boring Company, to help steady the ship.

• steady as she goes