pinch

pinch  (pnch)

v. pinched, pinch·ing, pinch·es

v.tr.

1. To squeeze between the thumb and a finger, the jaws of a tool, or other edges.

2. To squeeze or bind (a part of the body) in a way that causes discomfort or pain: These shoes pinch my toes.

3. To nip, wither, or shrivel: buds that were pinched by the frost; a face that was pinched with grief.

4. To straiten: "A year and a half of the blockade has pinched Germany" William L. Shirer.

5. Slang To take (money or property) unlawfully. See Synonyms at steal.

6. Slang To take into custody; arrest.

7. To move (something) with a pinch bar.

8. Nautical To sail (a boat) so close into the wind that its sails shiver and its speed is reduced.

v.intr.

1. To press, squeeze, or bind painfully: This collar pinches.

2. To be miserly.

3. Nautical To drag an oar at the end of a stroke.

n.

1. The act or an instance of pinching.

2. An amount that can be held between thumb and forefinger: a pinch of salt.

3. A painful, difficult, or straitened circumstance: felt the pinch of the recession.

4. An emergency situation: This coat will do in a pinch.

5. A narrowing of a mineral deposit, as in a mine.

6. Informal A theft.

7. Slang An arrest by a law enforcement officer.

adj. Baseball

Relating to pinch-hitting or pinch runners: a pinch single; a pinch steal of third base.

Idiom:

pinch pennies Informal

To be thrifty or miserly.

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[Middle English pinchen, from Old North French *pinchier, variant of Old French pincier, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *pnctire.]

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pinch

Verb

1. to squeeze (something, esp. flesh) between a finger and thumb

2. to squeeze by being too tight: shoes that pinch

3. to cause stinging pain to: the cold pinched his face

4. to make thin or drawn-looking, such as from grief or cold

5. Informal to steal

6. Informal to arrest

7. (usually foll. by out, back)to remove the tips of (a plant shoot) to correct or encourage growth

Noun

1. a squeeze or sustained nip

2. the quantity that can be taken up between a thumb and finger: a pinch of ground ginger

3. extreme stress or need: most companies are feeling the pinch of recession

4. at a pinch if absolutely necessary

5. feel the pinch to be forced to economize [probably from Old French]

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Pinch a very small quantity.

Examples: pinch of pleasure, 1583; of salt; of snuff, 1712; of fresh tea, 1840.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	pinch - a painful or straitened circumstance; "the pinch of the recession" difficulty - a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome; "grappling with financial difficulties"
	2.	pinch - an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed harm, hurt, injury, trauma - any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.
	3.	pinch - a slight but appreciable amount; "this dish could use a touch of garlic" mite, soupcon, tinge, jot, hint, speck, touch small indefinite amount, small indefinite quantity - an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude snuff - a pinch of smokeless tobacco inhaled at a single time
	4.	pinch - a sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action; "he never knew what to do in an emergency" emergency, exigency crisis - a crucial stage or turning point in the course of something; "after the crisis the patient either dies or gets better"
	5.	pinch - a small sharp bite or snip nip snip, clipping, clip - the act of clipping or snipping chomp, bite - the act of gripping or chewing off with the teeth and jaws
	6.	pinch - a squeeze with the fingers tweak squeeze, squeezing - the act of gripping and pressing firmly; "he gave her cheek a playful squeeze"
	7.	pinch - the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal); "the policeman on the beat got credit for the collar" arrest, taking into custody, apprehension, collar, catch capture, gaining control, seizure - the act of forcibly dispossessing an owner of property
Verb	1.	pinch - squeeze tightly between the fingers; "He pinched her behind"; "She squeezed the bottle" nip, tweet, twinge, twitch, squeeze grip - hold fast or firmly; "He gripped the steering wheel" goose - pinch in the buttocks; "he goosed the unsuspecting girl" tweak - pinch or squeeze sharply
	2.	pinch - make ridges into by pinching together crimp fold, fold up, turn up - bend or lay so that one part covers the other; "fold up the newspaper"; "turn up your collar" flute - form flutes in
	3.	pinch - make off with belongings of others cabbage, filch, pilfer, purloin, snarf, abstract, nobble, swipe, sneak, hook, lift steal - take without the owner's consent; "Someone stole my wallet on the train"; "This author stole entire paragraphs from my dissertation"
	4.	pinch - cut the top off; "top trees and bushes" top prune, snip, lop, cut back, clip, crop, trim, dress - cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of; "dress the plants in the garden" tail - remove the stalk of fruits or berries
	5.	pinch - irritate as if by a nip, pinch, or tear; "smooth surfaces can vellicate the teeth"; "the pain is as if sharp points pinch your back" vellicate irritate - excite to some characteristic action or condition, such as motion, contraction, or nervous impulse, by the application of a stimulus; "irritate the glands of a leaf"

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pinch

verb 1. nip, press, squeeze, grasp, compress, tweak

verb 2. hurt, crush, squeeze, pain, confine, cramp, chafe

verb 3. Brit. (informal) steal, rob, snatch, lift (informal) nick (slang), chiefly Brit. swipe (slang) knock off (slang) blag (slang) pilfer, snitch (slang) purloin, filch, snaffle Brit. (informal)

noun 4. nip, squeeze, tweak

noun 5. dash, bit, taste, mite, jot, speck, small quantity, smidgen (informal) soupçon (French)

noun 6. emergency, crisis, difficulty, plight, scrape (informal) strait, uphill S. African predicament, extremity, hardship

Translations

pinch [pɪntʃ] n → pellizco; [of salt etc] → pizca

vt → pellizcar;

(col) (= steal); birlar

vi [shoe] → apretar;

at a pinch → en caso de apuro;

to feel the pinch (fig) → pasar apuros or estrecheces

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pinch [pɪntʃ] n → pincement m [of salt etc]; pincée f

vt → pincer;

(inf) (= steal); piquer, chiper

vi [shoe] → serrer;

at a pinch → à la rigueur;

to feel the pinch (fig) → se ressentir des restrictions (or de la récession etc)

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pinch [pɪntʃ] n [of salt etc] → Prise f

vt (with finger and thumb) → zwicken, kneifen;

(inf) (= steal); klauen

vi [shoe] → drücken;

at a pinch → zur Not;

to feel the pinch (fig) → die schlechte Lage zu spüren bekommen

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pinch [pɪntʃ] n → pizzicotto, pizzico

vt → pizzicare;

(col) (= steal); grattare

vi [shoe] → stringere;

at a pinch → in caso di bisogno;

to feel the pinch (fig) → trovarsi nelle ristrettezze