PINCH • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Pinch

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/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.)

See images of 'Pinch'

Etymology of 'Pinch'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pinch" Quotes from Famous Books

... scourge of war, Blasts follow blasts, and groves dismantled roar, Around their home the storm-pinch'd CATTLE lows, No nourishment in frozen pastures grows; Yet frozen pastures every morn resound With fair abundance thund'ring to the ground. For though on hoary twigs no buds peep out, And e'en the hardy bramble cease to sprout, Beneath dread WINTER'S level sheets of snow The ...

— The Farmer's Boy - A Rural Poem • Robert Bloomfield

... the receipt: One pint of fresh milk, three-quarters of a cupful of sugar, half a pound of tapioca soaked in cold water four hours, a small teaspoonful of vanilla, a pinch of salt. Heat the milk and stir in the tapioca previously soaked. Mix well and add the sugar. Boil it slowly fifteen minutes, then take it off and beat until nearly cold. Pour into moulds, ...

— Holiday Stories for Young People • Various

... ancestral hate; the theme of Othello is jealousy; the theme of Le Tartufe is hypocrisy; the theme of Caste is fond hearts and coronets; the theme of Getting Married is getting married; the theme of Maternite is maternity. To every play it is possible, at a pinch, to assign a theme; but in many plays it is evident that no theme expressible in abstract terms was present to the author's mind. Nor are these always plays of a low class. It is only by a somewhat artificial process of abstraction that ...

— Play-Making - A Manual of Craftsmanship • William Archer

... insurance of a kind one time. But you Socialist chaps—social reform, Little England for the English, and all that—you swept that away. Wouldn't pay for it; said it wasn't wanted. Now it's gone, and you're feeling the pinch. The worst of it is, you make the rest of us feel it, too. I'm thankful to say the dad's pulling out fairly well. He told me yesterday he hadn't five hundred pounds in anything British. Wise old bird, ...

— The Message • Alec John Dawson

... the nobility were present. The old Duke of Cambridge offered the little General a pinch of snuff, which he declined. The General sang his songs, performed his dances, and cracked his jokes, to the great amusement and delight of the distinguished circle ...

— A Unique Story of a Marvellous Career. Life of Hon. Phineas T. • Joel Benton

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