nail down
verb
nailed down; nailing down; nails down
1
: to make (something, such as a victory) certain to happen
They need to score another touchdown to nail down the victory.
2
: 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.
3
: to make (something) definite or final
nail down a decision
Examples of nail down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
After nailing down a center, Pelinka also needs to really hit on the margins.
—
Los Angeles Times,
28 June 2026
The Lorimer Burst and others like it are now called Fast Radio Bursts, and adding to the irony, astronomers are still trying to nail down their origins today.
—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
26 June 2026
The observations seem to nail down the theory that clusters of hot, massive, luminous stars in young galaxies in the early universe played a dominant role in ionizing the universe's neutral gas.
—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
24 June 2026
But Michael Winger and Will Dawkins now have two, and maybe three, positions nailed down for the foreseeable future by young, promising talents.
—
David Aldridge,
New York Times,
24 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for nail down
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Los Angeles Times,
28 June 2026
The Lorimer Burst and others like it are now called Fast Radio Bursts, and adding to the irony, astronomers are still trying to nail down their origins today.
—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
26 June 2026
The observations seem to nail down the theory that clusters of hot, massive, luminous stars in young galaxies in the early universe played a dominant role in ionizing the universe's neutral gas.
—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
24 June 2026
But Michael Winger and Will Dawkins now have two, and maybe three, positions nailed down for the foreseeable future by young, promising talents.
—
David Aldridge,
New York Times,
24 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for nail down
Cite this Entry
“Nail down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nail%20down. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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