I. ˈpinch verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English pinchen, from (assumed) Old North French pinchier; akin to Old French pincier to pinch, Spanish pinchar to prick
transitive verb
1.
a. : to press hard between the ends of the finger and thumb, between teeth or claws, or between the jaws of an instrument : squeeze
pinched and patted my cheek — W.F.De Morgan
b.
(1) : to bring into a specified state or position by pinching
mountains come gradually together, and the coastal lowland is pinched out — P.E.James
(2) : to nip off or prune the tip of (a young shoot or bud) usually to induce branching or to bring into flower at a definite time the shoots which develop after the pinching — usually used with out, off, or back
c. : to squeeze or compress painfully
complained the shoe pinched his toes
d. : to cause physical or mental pain to : hurt , nip
how that knowledge would have pinched their pride — R.P.Warren
the air was so cold that it pinched … nostrils — Marcia Davenport
the tobacco hunger pinched me sore — William Baucke
e.
(1) : to cause to appear thin, shrunken, drawn, or haggard (as with pain, hunger, or strain)
cruelty pinched his face about the mouth — Elizabeth M. Roberts
face … was pinched with disquiet — Marcia Davenport
(2) : to cause to shrivel or wither up
a heavy frost had pinched the flowers
2.
a. : to subject to strict rationing or economy or severe shortage : straiten , stint
were ready to pinch themselves for years — Samuel Butler †1902
so pinched for money that he often had only tea for dinner — W.A.Swanberg
would be pinched for supplies — New York Times
b. : to cause distress or embarrassment to : vex , harass ; especially : to cause economic distress to
the debtor who found himself pinched by the shrinking supply of currency — V.L.Parrington
industries like textiles … will be seriously pinched as their contracts drop — Market Report
is … true that inflation is pinching some of our people now — M.G.Dilke
c. : to confine or limit narrowly : constrict
will pinch their operating irrigation projects — Raymond Moley
local prices and sales are being drastically pinched by foreign imports — Christian Science Monitor
d. : to squeeze out (money) : extort , wring
3. : to urge (a horse) to the limit
4.
a. : steal
pinched that box and … got caught — Claud Cockburn
b. : arrest
pinched for speeding — Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily News
5. : to move by prying with a pinch bar
6. : to sail (a boat) too close to the wind
7.
a. : to press (the cue ball) against a billiard table with a downward stroke of the cue held more or less vertically
b. : to propel (the ball) by such a stroke
intransitive verb
1. : to press or encroach so as to hem in or confine — used with in
the hills pinch in from either side of the river — American Guide Series: Connecticut
could have pinched in on him at any time — Williams Forrest
2. : to be economical : be miserly or closefisted
pinched on everything, even necessities
couldn't pinch and be shabby — Willa Cather
3. : to cause pain by pressing or squeezing : press painfully
this shoe pinches
4. : narrow , taper — often used with out
a calcareous sandstone … which pinches out to the south — M.A.Clement
5. : to form a pinch
Synonyms: see steal
•
- pinch pennies
II. noun
( -es )
1.
a. : a critical point or juncture : emergency , strait
a good man to have when it comes to a pinch
— usually used in the phrases in a pinch
in a pinch it could carry half again as much — N.M.Clark
and at a pinch
at a pinch , it could be supplied by sea — Richard Dimbleby
b. obsolete : mental or spiritual pain or distress
c.
(1) : painful impact : pressure , stress
felt the pinch of chronic hunger — Dixon Wecter
when the pinch of foreign competition came at last — G.M.Trevelyan
again felt the pinch of blockade — F.A.Southard
(2) : condition of hardship or privation
feeling a pinch this year in that house — Pearl Buck
d. : shortage
a labor pinch may be in the making — Newsweek
the essential facts of the ammunition pinch — Elie Abel
2.
a. : an act of pinching : nip , squeeze
gave me a pinch in the leg — Margaret Deland
b. : as much as may be taken between the finger and thumb : a very small quantity
a pinch of snuff
a pinch of salt
3. : pinch bar
4. : a marked thinning of a vein or bed
5. : a faint superficial line of crushed fibers running transversely across the belly of a bow or less commonly across part of an arrow
6.
a. : theft
b. : a police raid : arrest
7. : pressure of the cue ball against a billiard table caused by a downward stroke of the cue
Synonyms: see juncture
•
- with a pinch of salt
III. adjective
1. : substitute
a pinch runner
2. : made by a pinch hitter
a two-run pinch single — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union