nail down

phrasal verb

nailed down; nailing down; nails down

: to make (something, such as a victory) certain to happen

They need to score another touchdown to nail down the victory.

: 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.

: to make (something) definite or final

nail down a decision

Examples of nail down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web He's even nailed down a favorite local, good quality cheese. —

Catherine Jessee, Southern Living, 19 Oct. 2024 Order had to be restored in the seventh inning as some knuckleheads with tickets pelted the field with balls, beers and basically anything that was nailed down. —

Jay Paris, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024 The Bulls haven’t nailed down the precise rotations to blend in LaVine alongside fellow guards Coby White, Josh Giddey, Ayo Dosunmu and Lonzo Ball. —

Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 7 Oct. 2024 Carter allowed the parties more time to nail down the details. —

Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for nail down

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nail down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.