zero in

present singular third person zeroes in · present singular third person zeros in · participle present zeroing in · participle past zeroed in · past zeroed in

1. To focus one's aim; to zoom in and center (on something).

   Zero in and find a watermark in the image.

   3 more examples

   The pilot zeroed in on the bunker and launched a guided missile.

   When you invoke the VAX C compiler with -p for profiling it generates an assembly-language call to a profiling subroutine for which I substituted my own heap-checker, and that enabled me to zero in on a heap-violation which was caused by an array-out-of-bounds condition.

   1981 September 15, day@RAND-UNIX, “C debugging”, in fa.unix-wizards (Usenet)

   The Biden administration has also zeroed in on the building, Federation Tower East, the tallest skyscraper in the Russian capital.

   2021 December 6, Andrew E. Kramer, “Companies Linked to Russian Ransomware Hide in Plain Sight”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

2. To successfully narrow down a search (for).

   See if you can zero in on the caller.

   1 more example

   We have zeroed in on the source of the problem.

3. To concentrate or focus one's attention (on a task).

   One member of the check fraud team will zero in on the fingerprints.

   1 more example

   Scholarship suggests that pop culture feminists have correctly zeroed in on sexual double standards as a key source of gender inequality in sexuality.

   2010, Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Laura Hamilton, Paula England, “Is Hooking Up Bad for Young Women? Compared to What?”, in Contexts, volume 9, number 3, →DOI, page 23b

4. idiomaticTo converge (on).

   At the spring sale, everyone zeroed in on the bargain clothes.

   1 more example

   With 79 minutes gone, the most celebrated team of the modern age had been reduced to bunch of mooching, stumbling yellow-shirted spectators. A Champions League season that had seemed to be zeroing in on another coronation for Lionel Messi had been wrenched, gleefully, the other way.

   2019 May 8, Barney Ronay, The Guardian