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

Los Tigres del Norte, one of the most influential Mexican-American musical groups, stumped for Vice President Kamala Harris in west Phoenix on Thursday, with five days to go until Election Day as the presidential campaigns hone in on Latino voters, who make up a quarter of the Arizona electorate. —Rafael Carranza, The Arizona Republic, 31 Oct. 2024

The Harris campaign has honed in on the extreme nature of Project 2025, highlighting it in multiple ads. —Vittoria Elliott, WIRED, 8 Oct. 2024

But the statistical regression has illustrated his struggles to hone in on his best swing — one the Dodgers are hoping has started to reappear in recent weeks. —Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2024

This election, Trump is looking to rebuild that winning formula, and his final rally honed in on the manufacturing roots of those states and voters who originally backed him. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

alteration of home in

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined above