pinpoint

[ pin-point ]

noun

1. the point of a pin.
2. a trifle; pinhead.
3. a tiny spot or sharp point.

   Synonyms: define, identify, localize, spot

verb (used with object)

1. to locate or describe exactly or precisely:

   to pinpoint the problem.

adjective

1. exact; precise:

   pinpoint accuracy.

pinpoint

/ ˈpɪnˌpɔɪnt /

verb

1. to locate or identify exactly

   to pinpoint a problem

   to pinpoint a place on a map

noun

1. an insignificant or trifling thing
2. the point of a pin
3. modifier exact

   a pinpoint aim

Word History and Origins

Origin of pinpoint¹

First recorded in 1840–50; pin + point

Example Sentences

These dental care appliances shoot a pinpoint jet of water at teeth to dislodge any food particles—particularly around the wires and brackets of orthodontic appliances.

From Popular-Science

New techniques, such as machine learning that can quickly winnow through multiple forecasts and pinpoint the most accurate one, may be able to accelerate that timeline.

From Science News

From the previous points, you now know what metrics to track to pinpoint your problems with website traffic, backlinks, and content quality.

From Search Engine Watch

It also suggests that wastewater testing could pinpoint emerging outbreaks days earlier than other methods.

From MIT Technology Review

There’s no blood test to diagnose depression, no brain scan that can pinpoint anxiety before it happens.

From MIT Technology Review

You can almost pinpoint the exact date, or at least to the week, of when that joke was written.

From The Daily Beast

Your doctor can help pinpoint any potential roadblocks and, in some cases, might prescribe medication to help you ovulate.

From The Daily Beast

In this way the missile does not need pinpoint accuracy: widely spread supersonic shrapnel from the warhead is deadly.

From The Daily Beast

What do you think, 10 years from now, you can pinpoint as those days for you?

From The Daily Beast

And when it is time to fire, Israel retaliates with pinpoint accuracy.

From The Daily Beast

Sometimes the Time Observatory would pinpoint an age and hover over it while his companions took painstaking historical notes.

From Project Gutenberg

They'd never find him because Time was too vast to pinpoint one man in such a vast waste of years.

From Project Gutenberg

As they walked he tried to pinpoint directions, but because of the darkness he could not do so.

From Project Gutenberg

It loomed ponderous, dully gleaming in the faint light of a crescent moon and pinpoint stars.

From Project Gutenberg

Far overhead there was one fleeting glimpse of a pinpoint of dull opalescence reflecting the rays of the dying sun.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• diagnose
• identify
• recognize