nail down
phrasal 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 hosting prospects in the team facility over the course of the next few days, Schottenheimer and his staff will begin to nail down final evaluations heading into draft weekend.
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Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Apr. 2025
The publication’s sources say pricing is yet to be nailed down ahead of a release potentially as early as later this year.
—Andrew Williams, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025
Some observers believe if April 5 comes and goes without a TikTok deal nailed down, Trump would simply declare another extension.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 1 Apr. 2025
The European Space Agency’s Planck satellite mapped the CMB from 2009 to 2013, and cosmologists used that map to nail down the standard model of cosmology, also called LCDM.
—Anil Ananthaswamy, Scientific American, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nail down
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Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Apr. 2025
The publication’s sources say pricing is yet to be nailed down ahead of a release potentially as early as later this year.
—Andrew Williams, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025
Some observers believe if April 5 comes and goes without a TikTok deal nailed down, Trump would simply declare another extension.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 1 Apr. 2025
The European Space Agency’s Planck satellite mapped the CMB from 2009 to 2013, and cosmologists used that map to nail down the standard model of cosmology, also called LCDM.
—Anil Ananthaswamy, Scientific American, 1 Apr. 2025
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 16 Apr. 2025.
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