pinpoint
Americanverb
noun
-
an insignificant or trifling thing
-
the point of a pin
-
(modifier) exact
a pinpoint aim
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pinpointsimple
-
pinpointssimple
-
have pinpointedperfect
-
has pinpointedperfect
-
am pinpointingprogressive
-
are pinpointingprogressive
-
is pinpointingprogressive
-
have been pinpointingperfect progressive
-
has been pinpointingperfect progressive
Past
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pinpointedsimple
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had pinpointedperfect
-
was pinpointingprogressive
-
were pinpointingprogressive
-
had been pinpointingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pinpoint
Explanation
To pinpoint something is to nail down its exact location. The point of a pin is very small and fine. Similarly, when you pinpoint something, you have narrowed down its location to the smallest possibility: you've found out exactly where it is. The government is constantly trying to pinpoint the location of terrorists, just as police try to pinpoint the location of criminals. Dogs can pinpoint many things through smell. It's often hard to pinpoint which car is producing an annoying car alarm. When you pinpoint something, you've found it.
Vocabulary lists containing pinpoint
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"But if you increase disorder too much, you also lose stability. Our framework can help pinpoint the level of disorder that helps the system achieve optimal stability."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Junior quarterback Preston Beck of San Clemente has begun the 2026 season throwing pinpoint passes to help the Tritons start 3-0.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
When appealing a denial, patients should go through their medical records to try to pinpoint what may be providing a hurdle and then urge their doctor to add information.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
"To pinpoint 'this is the cause', we need to go to the field, do the analysis," Maharjan said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
So slowly that Bailey cannot pinpoint exact motions, only slight changes.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Unlike surround-sound in movie theaters which pinpoints directionality, the result here was diffusion — not eavesdropping but pure immersion.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
The composition is utterly still, devoid of human presence and enlivened only by fluttering harbor flags and the canvas’s scintillating pinpoints of color.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
To repeat, possible Japanese intervention would reverse the flow of liquidity into global markets that Edwards pinpoints.
From Barron's ● Nov. 22, 2025
A second, higher-resolution projection targets the midbrain with added precision and pinpoints dopaminergic neurons.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2025
Even the squawking of the rainbowed birds was brisk and the stars were hard pinpoints in the sharp night.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
So in March, he emailed the inmate he pinpointed as the one who fleeced Monk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
He was initially tested for Lyme, and it wasn’t until a monthslong antibody study that the Bourbon virus—so far found in only a handful of cases nationwide—was finally pinpointed as the culprit.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
Authorities said they hadn’t yet pinpointed a cause for the Dove fire, which burned in the hills southwest of Sonora — a town outside of Yosemite National Park in southern Tuolumne County.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
With his responses, Torres pinpointed the location and was able to touch Gil's fingers.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
Jerry leaped toward him, low, aiming for that vulnerable territory of the knees, the target pinpointed by the coach.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
Without pinpointing the source of the outbreak and containing it, cases have the potential to keep rising.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
The bulk of its commercial pipeline is anchored in markets for AI and data centers, with Few himself pinpointing that number at close to 80%.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
But then there’s like a plethora of these phases of my life that are marked on YouTube, pinpointing the different ages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
The difficulty for forecasters will be pinpointing the fine temperature boundaries that dictate where snow, sleet or rain falls.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
In time, the pinpointing of control areas will become more and more detailed.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
