pin down

pin down
{v.} 1a. To keep (someone) from moving; make stay in a place or position; trap. * /Mr. Jones' leg was pinned down under the car after the accident./ * /The soldier was pinned down in the hole because rifle bullets were flying over his head./ 1b. To keep (someone) from changing what (he) says or means; make (someone) admit the truth; make (someone) agree to something. * /Mary didn't like the book but I couldn't pin her down to say what she didn't like about it./ * /I tried to pin Bob down to fix my bicycle tomorrow, but he wouldn't say that he could./ 2. To tell clearly and exactly; explain so that there is no doubt. * /The police tried to pin down the blame for the fire in the school./

Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • pin down — (something) to discover the facts or exact details about something. The fire department is trying to pin down the cause of Wednesday s fire. So far we haven t pinned down a date …   New idioms dictionary

  • pin down — index restrict Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • pin down — verb 1. define clearly (Freq. 1) I cannot narrow down the rules for this game • Syn: ↑peg down, ↑nail down, ↑narrow down, ↑narrow, ↑specify • Derivationally related forms: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • pin down — 1) PHRASAL VERB If you try to pin something down, you try to discover exactly what, where, or when it is. [V P n (not pron)] It has taken until now to pin down its exact location... [V n P to n] I can only pin it down to between 1936 and 1942...… …   English dictionary

  • pin down — phrasal verb [transitive] Word forms pin down : present tense I/you/we/they pin down he/she/it pins down present participle pinning down past tense pinned down past participle pinned down 1) to understand or describe something exactly Officials… …   English dictionary

  • pin down — {v.} 1a. To keep (someone) from moving; make stay in a place or position; trap. * /Mr. Jones leg was pinned down under the car after the accident./ * /The soldier was pinned down in the hole because rifle bullets were flying over his head./ 1b.… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • pin\ down — v 1a. To keep (someone) from moving; make stay in a place or position; trap. Mr. Jones leg was pinned down under the car after the accident. The soldier was pinned down in the hole because rifle bullets were flying over his head. 1b. To keep… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • pin down — 1) our troops can pin down the enemy Syn: confine, trap, hem in, corner, close in, shut in, hedge in, pen in, restrain, entangle, enmesh, immobilize 2) she tried to pin him down to a plan Syn …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • pin down — verb a) to attach or secure with pins Pin down the tablecloth, so it doesnt blow away in the breeze. b) to identify something (e.g. a decision or plan) clearly or specifically Something is wrong, but I can …   Wiktionary

  • pin down (someone) — 1. to keep someone from being able to escape by shooting at them. For a time, the crew was pinned down by machine gun fire. 2. to get specific information from someone. It is not easy to pin down a politician who won t even tell you if it s… …   New idioms dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”