Pinching

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.]