pin down

verb

pinned down; pinning down; pins down

transitive verb

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

Precise numbers of staffing cuts are hard to pin down, but their historic scale in the first eight months of this administration is unmistakable. —Chris Sellers, The Conversation, 29 Sep. 2025

For me, the camera has a unique power in guiding me toward visualising complex, sometimes uncomfortable emotions that resist being pinned down by language. —Caterina De Biasio, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2025

Suresh followed and jumped on top of Brimmer, used his knees to pin down his arms, and stabbed him multiple times in the neck, police said. —Kyle Martin, Mercury News, 24 Sep. 2025

Brummage even changed her school schedule to devote more time to it and says she cold emails about 100 people a day when she’s not actively pinned down with projects. —Anna Moeslein, Glamour, 23 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1765, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pin down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown