pin back

pin back (third-person singular simple present pins back, present participle pinning back, simple past and past participle pinned back)

1. (transitive) To keep at a distance
   • 2015 January 31, Daniel Taylor, “David Silva seizes point for Manchester City as Chelsea are checked”, in The Guardian (London)‎:

     They were certainly the more rounded team and it was unusual, to say the least, to see Chelsea with home advantage being pinned back into their own half.

   • 2011 December 29, Keith Jackson, “SPL: Celtic 1 Rangers 0”, in Daily Record‎:

     For a solid five minutes or so Rangers pinned Celtic back and probed at them.

• pin back one's ears, have one's ears pinned back