Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - pin down

1. If you try to pin something down, you try to discover exactly what, where, or when it is. It has taken until now to pin down its exact location... I can only pin it down to between 1936 and 1942... If we cannot pin down exactly what we are supposed to be managing, how can we manage it? PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P to n, V P wh, also V n P 2. If you pin someone down, you force them to make a decision or to tell you what their decision is, when they have been trying to avoid doing this. She couldn’t pin him down to a date... If you pin people down, they will tell you some puzzling things about stress. PHRASAL VERB: V n P to/on n, V n P