hone in

verb

honed in; honing in; hones in

intransitive verb

: to move toward or focus attention on an objective

looking back for the ball honing in—

George Plimpton

a missile honing in on its target—

Bob Greene

hones in on the plights and victories of the common man—

Lisa 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

Recent Examples on the Web

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The company honed in on sound quality, digital signal processing, and fidelity to deliver a great home speaker. —

Brenda Stolyar, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024 His legend has been honed in building, rebuilding, Europe’s great houses. —

Rory Smith, The Athletic, 21 Nov. 2024 Cramer honed in on Inskip’s conclusion that action from the Fed helped the indexes weather the reaction to the tariffs, noting that the index entered a bullish cycle when the Fed stopped tightening that continued until the pandemic. —

Julie Coleman, CNBC, 20 Nov. 2024 The trio will be able to hone in on their pitches for the next couple of months, with a decision on who gets the job expected in June. —

Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 20 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hone in