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
The items are permanently nailed down or secured in order to prevent Houseguests from moving pieces.
—
Caroline Blair, People.com, 11 July 2025
The performer explains that YouTube has been his best friend in nailing down not only Jackson’s dance moves, but off-stage mannerisms, too.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 4 July 2025
But nailing down the particulars of the problem proves more slippery.
—Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Once the principle is accepted—that ingestion at scale for model training is protected—there’s very little to stop the tech giants from scraping everything that isn’t nailed down.
—Aron Solomon
june 27, Literary Hub, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for nail down
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Caroline Blair, People.com, 11 July 2025
The performer explains that YouTube has been his best friend in nailing down not only Jackson’s dance moves, but off-stage mannerisms, too.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 4 July 2025
But nailing down the particulars of the problem proves more slippery.
—Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Once the principle is accepted—that ingestion at scale for model training is protected—there’s very little to stop the tech giants from scraping everything that isn’t nailed down.
—Aron Solomon
june 27, Literary Hub, 27 June 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 21 Jul. 2025.
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