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 Swiping for the skies In May, the Biden administration honed in on an unlikely piece of plastic: the airline credit card. —

Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 10 July 2024 The surgeon general also honed in on an impact often ignored in conversations around guns, which is the heavy toll extending beyond violence itself. —

New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 1 July 2024 From there, the host honed in on each candidate’s respective performance. —

Ryan Schwartz, TVLine, 27 June 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. —

Tom Tapp, Deadline, 25 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for hone in

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