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

Researchers first want to pin down the minimum effective dose in animals. —Ryan Brennan, Sacbee.com, 24 June 2026

Successes against Russia boost Ukrainian morale On the front line in eastern Ukraine, where Russia’s war of attrition has made slow and costly advances since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has deployed cutting-edge drone technology to keep the enemy pinned down. —Illia Novikov, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2026

Those same patterns are also harder to pin down right now because of a few competing influences in the atmosphere. —Brandi D. Addison, USA Today, 22 June 2026

The dream has to be pinned down, even though a faint trace of this truth still clings to it. —Literary Hub, 19 June 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