home in

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To draw close to a destination, especially using radar; to move towards a target.
  2. To focus or narrow down to something; to find, draw closer or move towards, as by trial and error or a gradual seeking process.

Word forms

home in homes in homing in homed in hone in

Etymology

The phrase originates in military use in the early 20th century, apparently by analogy with the older term homing pigeon. From the 1960s it is also found in the mistaken variant hone in. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hone+in

Synonyms

Related words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.