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 as his inspiration has sprawled farther, the man behind it all has gotten increasingly hard to pin down. —Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 19 Feb. 2025

Because the novel skips around in time, in some cases with flashbacks buried in flashbacks, its perch — the point of telling — is at first hard to pin down. —Marie-Helene Bertino, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2025

Gomez fired a 9mm round in the direction of Magee and another officer that hit the ceiling, and after Munoz struggled to pin down Gomez’s handgun, Magee fired a shot at Gomez’s torso, then twice more at Gomez’s head. —Robert Salonga, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2025

Palmetto General is also trying to pin down a new vendor for anesthesia services as its existing one prepares to depart. —Verónica Egui Brito and, Miami Herald, 13 Feb. 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