nail down


verb(tr, adverb)
  1. to fasten down with or as if with nails

  2. informal to extort a definite promise or consent from: I nailed him down on the deadline

  1. informal to settle in a definite way: they nailed down the agreement

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use nail down in a sentence

Other Idioms and Phrases with nail down

nail down

Establish conclusively, as in The reporter nailed down the story by checking all the facts. This metaphoric expression alludes to fixing or fastening something down with nails. [c. 1600]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.