pin down
Appearance
See also: pindown
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Verb
[edit]pin down (third-person singular simple present pins down, present participle pinning down, simple past and past participle pinned down) (transitive)
- To attach or secure with pins.
- 1955 March, “Modernisation and Re-Equipment of British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, pages 154, 171:
- There are approximately 1,000 places on British Railways where wagon brakes must be pinned down before trains proceed over severe falling gradients; the trains have to be brought to a stand for the brakes to be pinned down, and subsequently have again to be stopped for the brakes to be released.
- (idiomatic) To identify something (e.g. a decision or plan) clearly or specifically.
- Something is wrong, but I can't pin it down.
- (wrestling) To hold the opponent back-first so both his or her shoulders touch the mat or ground.
- Synonym: pin
- (idiomatic) To corner somebody in order to get a firm answer.
- Let's try to pin him down on a price.
Derived terms
[edit]- pindown (noun)
- unpindownable
Related terms
[edit]- pin (noun)