Link Centre Dictionary

pinch

UK/pɪnt͡ʃ/ US/ˈpɪntʃ/ fairly common slang
verb (5) noun (7)

verb

1.

squeeze tightly between the fingers

  • “He pinched her behind”
  • “She squeezed the bottle”
Synonyms
2.

make ridges into by pinching together

Synonyms
3.
4.

cut the top off

  • “top trees and bushes”
Synonyms
5.

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”
Synonyms

noun

1.

a painful or straitened circumstance

  • “the pinch of the recession”
2.

an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed

3.

a slight but appreciable addition

  • “this dish could use a touch of garlic”
Synonyms
4.

a sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action

  • “he never knew what to do in an emergency”
Synonyms
5.

small sharp biting

Synonyms
6.

a squeeze with the fingers

Synonyms
7.

the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal)

  • “the policeman on the beat got credit for the collar”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English pinchen, from Old Northern French *pinchier (compare Old French pincier, pincer (“to pinch”)), a word of uncertain origin, possibly from Vulgar Latin *pinciāre (“to puncture, pinch”), from a merger of *punctiāre (“to puncture, sting”), from Latin punctiō (“a puncture, prick”) and *piccāre (“to strike, sting”), from Frankish *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick”). More at point, pick and pitch.

Phrases

  • at a pinch
  • Bennett pinch
  • feel the pinch
  • in a pinch
  • Jack at a pinch
  • on a pinch
  • pinch a loaf
  • pinch and a punch for the first of the month
  • pinch at
  • pinch bar
  • pinch off
  • pinch one off

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.