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Pinch   /pɪntʃ/   Listen
noun
Pinch  n.  
1.
A close compression, as with the ends of the fingers, or with an instrument; a nip.
2.
As much as may be taken between the finger and thumb; any very small quantity; as, a pinch of snuff.
3.
Pian; pang. "Necessary's sharp pinch."
4.
A lever having a projection at one end, acting as a fulcrum, used chiefly to roll heavy wheels, etc. Called also pinch bar.
At a pinch, On a pinch, in an emergency; as, he could on a pinch read a little Latin.


verb
Pinch  v. t.  (past & past part. pinched; pres. part. pinching)  
1.
To press hard or squeeze between the ends of the fingers, between teeth or claws, or between the jaws of an instrument; to squeeze or compress, as between any two hard bodies.
2.
To seize; to grip; to bite; said of animals. (Obs.) "He (the hound) pinched and pulled her down."
3.
To plait. (Obs.) "Full seemly her wimple ipinched was."
4.
Figuratively: To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve; to distress; as, to be pinched for money. "Want of room... pinching a whole nation."
5.
To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch. See Pinch, n., 4.
6.
To seize by way of theft; to steal; to lift. (Slang)
7.
To catch; to arrest (a criminal).


Pinch  v. i.  
1.
To act with pressing force; to compress; to squeeze; as, the shoe pinches.
2.
(Hunt.) To take hold; to grip, as a dog does. (Obs.)
3.
To spare; to be niggardly; to be covetous. "The wretch whom avarice bids to pinch and spare."
To pinch at, to find fault with; to take exception to. (Obs.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Pinch" Quotes from Famous Books



... in "Swiss Family Robinson," that when they came to a very hard pinch for want of twine or scissors or nails, the mother, Elizabeth, always had it in her "wonderful bag"? I was young enough when I first read "Swiss Family" to be really taken in by this, and to think it magic. Indeed, I supposed the bag to be a lady's work-bag of beads or melon-seeds, ...
— How To Do It • Edward Everett Hale
... round of certifying and reasoning, the shoe still continues to pinch, and the first Judge again appears before the public to help the defect. Altho' he signed Thompson's statement in which he is careful to make use of the language employed by it, and the epithet personal ...
— A Review and Exposition, of the Falsehoods and Misrepresentations, of a Pamphlet Addressed to the Republicans of the County of Saratoga, Signed, "A Citizen" • An Elector
... hope for the credit of women that she did. But you may be morally certain she did nothing of the kind. Girls don't give up all their hopes in life so easily as that. She might think she would do it, because she had read of such things, and thought it was fine, but when it came to the pinch, ...
— The Minister's Charge • William D. Howells
... features of the Scheme must not be such as to produce injury to the persons whom we seek to benefit. Mere charity, for instance, while relieving the pinch of hunger, demoralises the recipient; and whatever the remedy is that we employ, it must be of such a nature as to do good without doing evil at the same time. It is no use conferring sixpennyworth of benefit on a man if, at the same time, we do ...
— "In Darkest England and The Way Out" • General William Booth
... of that little pinch of nothing giving us all such a fright," replied Johnny Chuck. ...
— The Burgess Animal Book for Children • Thornton W. Burgess


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