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View synonyms for nail down

nail down

verb

  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

  3. 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


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Idioms and Phrases

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]
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Example Sentences

Not enough that Democrats can win Arkansas, God knows, but maybe enough that they can nail down North Carolina again.

August isn't really the time to be trying to nail down the scary-lazy-black-people and the Democrats-hate-God voting blocs.

Actually, hard numbers on the safety of home birth are surprisingly difficult to nail down.

Romney, for his part, still cannot win blue-collar votes and still cannot nail down evangelical support.

We were trying to nail down the schedule for it to air, with the goal of it being Thursday night.

I recovered just as the people were about to nail down the hatches; perceiving which, I desired them to stop.

In other words, I was trying to nail down where this lie started.

We shall nail down the transom and stuff the keyhole with soap if you do.

Ryan at once took out the saw, poured some oil on it, and passed his nail down the bar until he found a fine nick.

Nail down the rear end upon floor to its widest spread, with hind legs pointing back on a slight slant.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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

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