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

Then, when the real D-Day began, those troops would be pinned down by Allied bomber missions and further drops of British and Canadian commandos. — Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026

However, a lack of data makes the exact timings for the Daytime Sextantids peak relatively difficult to pin down. — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 26 Sep. 2026

Across two seasons packed with twisty machinations, Jung’s virtuous prosecutor Jang Geon-young attempted to pin down Hyun’s shamelessly corrupt — but effortlessly cool — intelligence officer Baek Ki-tae, only to be outfoxed at every turn. — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 24 Sep. 2026

The reasons for this planet-wide drop in procreation, however, are hard to pin down and hotly debated, and, like most other big questions in the United States, they have been absorbed into larger culture-war arguments. — Ian Crouch, New Yorker, 24 Sep. 2026

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