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
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Other provisions pin down how states designate electors, in order to eliminate the possibility of fakes crashing the Electoral College. The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2024 Bob Dunn, 68, was struck and pinned down by an alder tree that was roughly 20 inches in diameter. Charna Flam, People.com, 24 Oct. 2024 In his 291-page tome, Routh bristled at being pinned down as a political partisan. Corky Siemaszko, NBC News, 17 Sep. 2024 The internet has made culture available to adults that are pinned down by life. Jonathan Cohen, SPIN, 26 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for pin down 

Word History

First Known Use

1765, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pin down was in 1765

Dictionary Entries Near pin down

Cite this Entry

“Pin down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pin%20down. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.

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