pin down
verb
pinned down; pinning down; pins down
1
: to cause or force (someone) to make a definite statement or decision about something
Reporters tried to pin him down on the specific changes he wants to make to the tax laws.
2
: to find out (something) with certainty
Can you pin down when the change occurred?
I'm trying to pin the source of the problem down.
Examples of pin down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Intelligence has always been notoriously difficult to pin down.
—
Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
At the Kaseya Center the evening before UFC 327, White expressed concern that his team’s plan to pin down the President the next day to show him logistical plans for the White House event would be a fool’s errand.
—Sean Gregory, Time, 26 May 2026
Pratchett’s politics are not easy to pin down.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 24 May 2026
Officials said the teen who was armed with a gun was pinned down by a relative when 9-1-1 was called.
—Elyssa Kaufman, CBS News, 23 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for pin down
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Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
At the Kaseya Center the evening before UFC 327, White expressed concern that his team’s plan to pin down the President the next day to show him logistical plans for the White House event would be a fool’s errand.
—Sean Gregory, Time, 26 May 2026
Pratchett’s politics are not easy to pin down.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 24 May 2026
Officials said the teen who was armed with a gun was pinned down by a relative when 9-1-1 was called.
—Elyssa Kaufman, CBS News, 23 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for pin down
Cite this Entry
“Pin down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pin%20down. Accessed 2 Jun. 2026.
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