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

But there's so much more to it that can't be pinned down. —Katherine Polcari, Southern Living, 19 Apr. 2025

While last week’s celebrity beauty trends couldn’t be pinned down, this week, one thing couldn’t be stated more: wet your hair. —India Espy-Jones, Essence, 14 Apr. 2025

However, maneuvering like a pilot with more than 7,000 hours in jets and ex-military aircraft, entrepreneur and private astronaut Jared Isaacman dodged most of their questions and would not be pinned down. —Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 9 Apr. 2025

Most small businesses don’t import goods themselves, and even for those that do, figuring out which products are hit and by how much can be hard to pin down. —Brandon Kochkodin, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 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