nail down

phrasal verb

nailed down; nailing down; nails down

: to make (something, such as a victory) certain to happen

They need to score another touchdown to nail down the victory.

: to find out or identify (something) exactly

Her doctors haven't yet been able to nail down a diagnosis.

They're trying to nail down the cause of our network problems.

: to make (something) definite or final

nail down a decision

Examples of nail down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Rogers has also nailed down much of the Republican mainstream support in the state and picked up the endorsement of another GOP candidate who left the race, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig. —

Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press, 26 Apr. 2024 Voids could even help to nail down the nature of neutrinos—elementary particles, once thought to be massless, that pervade the universe while barely interacting with ordinary matter. —

Michael D. Lemonick, Scientific American, 1 Jan. 2024 The testimony was intended to nail down a clear prosecutorial timeline, which Mr. Biden’s lawyers later undermined. —

Zach Montague, New York Times, 6 June 2024 That makes nailing down a price point for his services complicated. —

Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 1 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for nail down

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nail down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.