pin down

PIN  (pn)

abbr.

personal identification number

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pin  (pn)

n.

1.

a. A short, straight, stiff piece of wire with a blunt head and a sharp point, used especially for fastening.

b. Something, such as a safety pin, that resembles such a piece of wire in shape or use.

c. A whit; a jot: didn't care a pin about the matter.

2. A slender, usually cylindrical piece of wood or metal for holding or fastening parts together, or serving as a support for suspending one thing from another, as:

a. A thin rod for securing the ends of fractured bones.

b. A peg for fixing the crown to the root of a tooth.

c. A cotter pin.

d. The part of a key stem entering a lock.

e. Music One of the pegs securing the strings and regulating their tension on a stringed instrument.

f. Nautical A belaying pin.

g. Nautical A thole pin.

3. An ornament fastened to clothing by means of a clasp.

4. A rolling pin.

5. Sports

a. One of the wooden clubs at which the ball is aimed in bowling.

b. A flagstick.

c. See fall.

6. pins Informal The legs: spry for his age, and steady on his pins.

7. Electronics A lead on a device that plugs into a socket to connect the device to a system.

8. Computer Science

a. Any of the pegs on the platen of a printer, which engage holes at the edges of paper.

b. Any of the styluses that form a dot matrix on a printer.

c. Any of the small metal prongs at the end of a connector that fit into the holes in a port.

tr.v. pinned, pin·ning, pins

1. To fasten or secure with or as if with a pin or pins.

2. To transfix.

3. To place in a position of trusting dependence: He pinned his faith on an absurdity.

4.

a. To hold fast; immobilize: The passenger was pinned under the wreckage of the truck.

b. Sports To win a fall from in wrestling.

5. To give (a woman) a fraternity pin in token of attachment.

adj.

Having a grain suggestive of the heads of pins. Used of leather.

Phrasal Verbs:

pin down

1. To fix or establish clearly: was finally able to pin down the cause of the disease.

2. To force (someone) to give firm opinions or precise information: The reporter pinned the governor down on the issue of capital punishment.

pin on

To attribute (a crime) to (someone): The murder was pinned on the wrong suspect.

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[Middle English, from Old English pinn, perhaps from Latin pinna, feather; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]

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pin down

vb (tr, adverb)

1. to force (someone) to make a decision or carry out a promise

2. to define clearly he had a vague suspicion that he couldn't quite pin down

3. to confine to a place the fallen tree pinned him down

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	pin down - define clearly; "I cannot narrow down the rules for this game" narrow down, peg down, nail down, narrow, specify determine - fix in scope; fix the boundaries of; "the tree determines the border of the property" concretize - make something concrete
	2.	pin down - place in a confining or embarrassing position; "He was trapped in a difficult situation" trap detain, confine - deprive of freedom; take into confinement
	3.	pin down - attach with or as if with a pin; "pin up a picture" pin up attach - cause to be attached

Translations

? pin down

vt sep

(= fix down: with pins) → an- or festheften; (= hold, weight down) → beschweren, niederhalten; (= trap: rockfall etc) → einklemmen; he pinned him down on the canvas → er drückte ihn auf die Matte; two of the gang pinned him down → zwei aus der Bande drückten ihn zu Boden; our troops were pinned down by heavy artillery fire → unsere Truppen wurden durch heftiges Artilleriefeuer festgehalten

(fig) to pin somebody down → jdn festnageln or festlegen; he wouldn’t be pinned down to any particular date → er ließ sich nicht auf ein bestimmtes Datum festnageln or festlegen; he’s a difficult man to pin down → man kann ihn nur schwer dazu bringen, sich festzulegen; I’ve seen him/it somewhere before but I can’t pin him/it down → ich habe ihn/es schon mal irgendwo gesehen, kann ihn/es aber nicht einordnen; we can’t pin down the source of the rumours → wir können die Quelle der Gerüchte nicht lokalisieren; it’s not easy to pin down the precise cause of this → es ist nicht leicht, die genaue Ursache dafür festzustellen; there’s something odd here, but I can’t pin it down → irgendetwas ist hier merkwürdig, aber ich kann nicht genau sagen, was