home in
home in verb: to draw close to a destination, especially using radar; to move towards a target.
Verb
home in (third-person singular simple present homes in, present participle homing in, simple past and past participle homed in)
- To draw close to a destination, especially using radar; to move towards a target.
- Synonyms:
- zero in
- To focus or narrow down to something; to find, draw closer or move towards, as by trial and error or a gradual seeking process.
- He used the clues to home in on the source of the flames.
- We are homing in on a solution.
- Synonyms:
- zero in
Synonyms of home in
Forms of home in
| third-person singular present | homes in |
|---|---|
| present participle | homing in |
| past participle | homed in |
| past | homed in |
| alternative proscribed | hone in |
Origin of home in
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
Questions about home in
- What does home in mean?
- Home in means to draw close to a destination, especially using radar; to move towards a target.
- What part of speech is home in?
- Home in is a verb.
- What is the past tense of home in?
- The past tense of home in is homed in.
Words near home in in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: home in (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “home in.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/home_in. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.