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

Innings later, Jhoan Duran’s familiar intro played on the stadium scoreboard and the closer trotted in to nail down the save. —Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 27 Sep. 2025

Back in the 1970s and '80s, Rocky Horror aficionados had to go to theaters over and over to nail down those details. —Neda Ulaby, NPR, 27 Sep. 2025

And yet, despite its pervasiveness, no one has quite nailed down the science behind falling in and out of love, whether romantically, platonically, or internally. —Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 26 Sep. 2025

Also confirm where joists or subfloors exist before attempting to nail down your floorboards—some older homes have very little of either. —Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2025

Rhymes for nail down

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