zero in
Britishverb
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(often foll by on) to bring (a weapon) to bear (on a target), as while firing repeatedly
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informal to bring one's attention to bear (on a problem, etc)
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informal to converge (upon)
the police zeroed in on the site of the crime
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Add them both up, and zero in on what you’re spending on the nonessentials in particular.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
After Netflix greenlit a two-hour finale instead, Oseman elected to zero in on her protagonists — not unlike her comics — rather than give each character their own, heavily condensed arc.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
He told BBC Breakfast he is "absolutely convinced I've done nothing wrong in any way at all" and he has "taken zero in personal expenses" since being elected in July 2024.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
Season 3 “finally starts to zero in on what feels like it might be the show’s core story,” explains Slate’s Sam Adams.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026
Perhaps the weirdest of all is caused by a zero in the equations of quantum mechanics: the zero-point energy.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
