pin down
verb
pinned down; pinning down; pins down
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
Much like Tatum’s accent in the character, the movie proved hard to pin down and remained in development purgatory, never quite getting off the ground.
—
Dan Heching, CNN, 27 July 2024
Hewing to more traditional fabric mediums, the Tanner Fletcher boys pinned to their board ticking stripes, gingham and toile de Jouy.
Inspiration for Melitta Baumeister, whose runway debut nabbed the closing spot of the week, was harder to pin down.
—Ari Stark, WWD, 3 Sep. 2024
Physicists have long struggled to pin down the details of this process.
—Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 28 Aug. 2024
Such equipment could scrutinize the sample for a wide assortment of biosignatures while also pinning down details such as the age of the leopard spots’ dark rims, the timing of the rock’s interactions with water and even the temperature at which some of its minerals formed.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 26 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for pin down 
Dan Heching, CNN, 27 July 2024
Hewing to more traditional fabric mediums, the Tanner Fletcher boys pinned to their board ticking stripes, gingham and toile de Jouy.
Inspiration for Melitta Baumeister, whose runway debut nabbed the closing spot of the week, was harder to pin down.
—Ari Stark, WWD, 3 Sep. 2024
Physicists have long struggled to pin down the details of this process.
—Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 28 Aug. 2024
Such equipment could scrutinize the sample for a wide assortment of biosignatures while also pinning down details such as the age of the leopard spots’ dark rims, the timing of the rock’s interactions with water and even the temperature at which some of its minerals formed.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 26 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for pin down
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pin down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Pin down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pin%20down. Accessed 29 Sep. 2024.
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