hone in
verb
George PlimptonBob GreeneLisa Russell
Hone in vs. Home in: Usage Guide
Most usage commentators consider hone in to be a mistake for home in. The use may have arisen from home in by the weakening of the \m\ sound to \n\ or it may have developed simply because of the influence of hone, with perhaps an underlying sense that "honing" figuratively involves a narrowing or sharpening of focus. Whatever the explanation of its origins, it has established itself in American English and has begun to make a few inroads into British English as well. Even so, your use of it especially in writing is likely to be called a mistake. Home in or in figurative use zero in is an easy alternative.
Examples of hone in in a Sentence
New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 29 Jan. 2025
Colleagues like Denis Villeneuve and Quentin Tarantino have banned cellphone usage on their sets to hone in on production, while others have lamented smartphones’ encroachment on making good movies or otherwise impeding the cinephile’s viewing experience.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 25 Jan. 2025
And that skillset honed in Congress will serve her well, said Jon Alterman, senior vice president and director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
—CBS News, 21 Jan. 2025
Season two hones in on the nature-versus-nurture tension between the innies and the outies, most poignantly through office rebel Helly (Britt Lower), who discovered at the end of season one that her outie is Helena Eagan, heir to the company that she’s dedicated her life to railing against.
—Abby Monteil, Them, 15 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for hone in 
Articles Related to hone in
Dictionary Entries Near hone in
Cite this Entry
“Hone in.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hone%20in. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share