/pinch"bek/ , n.
1. an alloy of copper and zinc, used in imitation of gold.
2. something sham, spurious, or counterfeit.
adj.
3. made of pinchbeck.
4. sham, spurious, or counterfeit: pinchbeck heroism.
[ 1725-35; named after Christopher Pinchbeck (d. 1732), English watchmaker and its inventor ]