I. pinch 1 /pɪntʃ/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: From an unrecorded Old North French pinchier ]
1 . [transitive] to press a part of someone’s skin very tightly between your finger and thumb, especially so that it hurts:
We have to stop her pinching her baby brother.
He pinched her cheek.
2 . [transitive] British English informal to steal something, especially something small or not very valuable:
Someone’s pinched my coat!
3 . [transitive] to press something between your finger and thumb:
Pinch the edges of the pastry together to seal it.
4 . [intransitive and transitive] if something you are wearing pinches you, it presses painfully on part of your body, because it is too tight:
Her new shoes were pinching.
5 . somebody has to pinch themselves used when a situation is so surprising that the person involved needs to make sure that they are not imagining it:
Sometimes she had to pinch herself to make sure it was not all a dream.
6 . [transitive usually passive] British English old-fashioned to ↑ arrest someone
pinch something ↔ out phrasal verb
to remove a small part of a plant with your fingers:
Pinch out any side shoots to make the plant grow upwards.
II. pinch 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . pinch of salt/pepper etc a small amount of salt, pepper etc that you can hold between your finger and thumb:
Add a pinch of salt to taste.
2 . when you press someone’s skin between your finger and thumb:
She gave him a playful pinch.
3 . at a pinch British English , in a pinch American English used to say that you could do something if necessary in a difficult or urgent situation:
There’s space for three people. Four at a pinch.
If you’re in a pinch, I’m sure they’d look after Jenny for a while.
4 . take something with a pinch of salt used to say that you should not always completely believe what a particular person says:
You have to take what he says with a pinch of salt.
5 . feel the pinch to have financial difficulties, especially because you are not making as much money as you used to make:
Local stores and businesses are beginning to feel the pinch.