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pinch (p nch)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.
[Middle English pinchen, from Old North French *pinchier, variant of Old French pincier, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *p ncti re.] |
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Adj. | 1. | pinched - sounding as if the nose were pinched; "a whining nasal voice" | | 2. | pinched - very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold; "emaciated bony hands"; "a nightmare population of gaunt men and skeletal boys"; "eyes were haggard and cavernous"; "small pinched faces"; "kept life in his wasted frame only by grim concentration"lean, thin - lacking excess flesh; "you can't be too rich or too thin"; "Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look"-Shakespeare | | 3. | pinched - not having enough money to pay for necessitiespoor - having little money or few possessions; "deplored the gap between rich and poor countries"; "the proverbial poor artist living in a garret" | | 4. | pinched - as if squeezed uncomfortably tight; "her pinched toes in her pointed shoes were killing her"constricted - drawn together or squeezed physically or by extension psychologically; "a constricted blood vessel"; "a constricted view of life" |
pinchedadjective thin, starved, worn, drawn, gaunt, haggard, careworn, peaky a small, thin woman with pinched features fat, healthy, glowing, blooming, plump, radiant, chubby, ruddy, well-fed, hale and hearty
Translations pinched [ˈpɪntʃt] adj (= short of) pinched for money → à court d'argentpinched for space → à l'étroit pinched adj ( inf, = short) to be pinched for money → knapp bei Kasse sein (inf); to be pinched for time → keine Zeit haben
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