pin down

verb

pinned down; pinning down; pins down

transitive verb

: 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.

: 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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Exactly how many Connecticut residents this system affects has been hard to pin down because the DMV has been slow to provide information. —

Dave Altimari, ProPublica, 5 Jan. 2025 However, Dylan has a way of phrasing himself in a way that can be teasingly hard to pin down. —

Tom Gliatto, People.com, 26 Dec. 2024 While meteorologists might spot early signs of a storm five to seven days in advance, specific details, such as exact snow amounts, are hard to pin down. —

Amanda Castro, Newsweek, 13 Dec. 2024 The gem’s value is hard to pin down Appraisals of the Bahia Emerald have ranged wildly from just a couple thousand dollars to $925 million. —

Hunter Clauss, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for pin down