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 good news is that Tuesday's updates certainly keep the Apple product line fresh and attractive, providing the time needed to nail down that AI strategy. —Zev Fima, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2025

Insiders reveal that the final headliner — outside of the after-hours dance music spot — has yet to be nailed down. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 9 Sep. 2025

Truth Teller reporters repeatedly go undercover to nail down relatively trivial scoops, appearing, in the process, to flagrantly violate the Society of Professional Journalists’ ethical guidelines. —Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2025

Without needing to finalize specs, worry about performance, or nail down a price to launch this as a real product, the core components could be anything. —PC Magazine, 5 Sep. 2025

Rhymes for nail down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown