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

Performances show volatility and restraint Elordi’s Heathcliff is a difficult performance to pin down. —Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 11 Feb. 2026

In the new study, Dongyang Huang, a professor of Earth and space sciences at Peking University in China, and his colleagues found a way to pin down hydrogen. —Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 10 Feb. 2026

Amount of youth wagering hard to pin down The scale of underage betting is hard to measure. —Nick Penzenstadler, USA Today, 3 Feb. 2026

Since its value relies on a mix of scarcity, institutional money flow, mining economics, trading volume, and external events, its price is inherently jumpy and hard to pin down in the not-so-distant future. —K.h. Koehler, jsonline.com, 29 Jan. 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