nail down

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

Gosling and Ortiz rehearsed each scene before bringing out the puppet, nailing down the blocking between them first. —Clayton Davis, Variety, 21 Apr. 2026

The consolation is that neither nailed down the role. —Megan Feringa, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2026

Georgia’s quest to try and nail down a 2027 QB continues this week with a visit from Texas 4-star Colton Nussmeier. —Jeff Sentell, AJC.com, 17 Apr. 2026

Less than a year removed from selling off just about everything that wasn’t nailed down at the trade deadline, the Twins have proven to be surprisingly competent through the early going. —Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 12 Apr. 2026

Rhymes for nail down

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