pinpoint
to locate with great accuracy
TRANSLATION
pinpoint = genau aufzeigen/bestimmen/festlegen --- GOOGLE INDEX pinpoint: approximately 12,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Most advanced genetic map may PINPOINT diseases
(New Scientist article headline)
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Unlike most people's home internet connections, where an IP address can sometimes be used to PINPOINT one particular computer, large organisations tend to mask individual machines for security reasons.
(BBC News)
(New Scientist article headline)
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Unlike most people's home internet connections, where an IP address can sometimes be used to PINPOINT one particular computer, large organisations tend to mask individual machines for security reasons.
(BBC News)
Did you
know?
pinpoint
verb
- find or identify with great accuracy or precision
adjective
- absolutely precise
noun
- a tiny dot or point
(Oxford Dictionary)
---
Pinpoint is a compound word that derives from "pin" (a thin piece of metal with a sharp point at one end and a round head at the other) and "point" (a particular spot, place, or position in an area or on a map, object, or surface).
Although the first usage of the compound word is recorded in the 1840s as a noun simply meaning the point of a pin, the verb and adjective sense is thought to have derived from military aviation slang. Specifically, it was first used by World War 1 bomber pilots and navigators in the sense of locating targets from the air, thus giving pinpoint its association with accuracy.
Pinpoint is still used in this military context. The extreme accuracy of modern weapons systems has meanwhile given a whole new meaning to the adjective pinpoint (US forces launch pinpoint strikes on Iraqi targets).
Still, pinpoint has many more uses outside of the military to describe locating something with accuracy or fine detail, such as pinpointing the causes of a disease, pinpointing the reasons for a company's success (or failure) or the ability of dogs to pinpoint many things with their highly accurate sense of smell.
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SYNONYMS
verb
diagnose, distinguish, finger, identify, place, recognize, spot, get a fix on, home in on
adjective
accurate, dead centre, dead-on, direct, exact, on the button, on the mark, on the money, on the nose, spot-on, precise
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"They haven't yet pinpointed the cause of the computer virus attack."
---
Thank you Birgit, for suggesting today's word!
verb
- find or identify with great accuracy or precision
adjective
- absolutely precise
noun
- a tiny dot or point
(Oxford Dictionary)
---
Pinpoint is a compound word that derives from "pin" (a thin piece of metal with a sharp point at one end and a round head at the other) and "point" (a particular spot, place, or position in an area or on a map, object, or surface).
Although the first usage of the compound word is recorded in the 1840s as a noun simply meaning the point of a pin, the verb and adjective sense is thought to have derived from military aviation slang. Specifically, it was first used by World War 1 bomber pilots and navigators in the sense of locating targets from the air, thus giving pinpoint its association with accuracy.
Pinpoint is still used in this military context. The extreme accuracy of modern weapons systems has meanwhile given a whole new meaning to the adjective pinpoint (US forces launch pinpoint strikes on Iraqi targets).
Still, pinpoint has many more uses outside of the military to describe locating something with accuracy or fine detail, such as pinpointing the causes of a disease, pinpointing the reasons for a company's success (or failure) or the ability of dogs to pinpoint many things with their highly accurate sense of smell.
---
SYNONYMS
verb
diagnose, distinguish, finger, identify, place, recognize, spot, get a fix on, home in on
adjective
accurate, dead centre, dead-on, direct, exact, on the button, on the mark, on the money, on the nose, spot-on, precise
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"They haven't yet pinpointed the cause of the computer virus attack."
---
Thank you Birgit, for suggesting today's word!
