Pinch

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Pinch, v. t. [F. pincer, probably fr. OD. pitsen to pinch; akin to G. pfetzen to cut, pinch; perhaps of Celtic origin. Cf. Piece.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  to seize; to grip; to bite; -- said of animals.  [1913 Webster]

  "He [the hound] pinched and pulled her down."  [1913 Webster]
•  To plait.  [1913 Webster]

  "Full seemly her wimple ipinched was."  [1913 Webster]
•  Figuratively: To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve; to distress; as, to be pinched for money.  [1913 Webster]

  "Want of room . . . pinching a whole nation."  [1913 Webster]
•  To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch. See Pinch, n., 4.  [1913 Webster]
•  To seize by way of theft; to steal; to lift.  Robert Barr.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  to catch; to arrest (a criminal).  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Pinch, v. i. 

•  To act with pressing force; to compress; to squeeze; as, the shoe pinches.  [1913 Webster]
•  To take hold; to grip, as a dog does.  [1913 Webster]
•  To spare; to be niggardly; to be covetous.  Gower.  [1913 Webster]

  "The wretch whom avarice bids to pinch and spare."  [1913 Webster]

To pinch at, to find fault with; to take exception to. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Pinch, n. 

•  A close compression, as with the ends of the fingers, or with an instrument; a nip.  [1913 Webster]
•  As much as may be taken between the finger and thumb; any very small quantity; as, a pinch of snuff.  [1913 Webster]
•  Pian; pang.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  A lever having a projection at one end, acting as a fulcrum, -- used chiefly to roll heavy wheels, etc. Called also pinch bar.  [1913 Webster]

At a pinch, On a pinch, in an emergency; as, he could on a pinch read a little Latin.<-- also in a pinch -->

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Pinch, v. & n.
--v.
1 tr. a grip (esp. the skin of part of the body or of another person) tightly, esp. between finger and thumb (pinched my finger in the door; stop pinching me). b (often absol.) (of a shoe, garment, etc.) constrict (the flesh) painfully.
2 tr. (of cold, hunger, etc.) grip (a person) painfully (she was pinched with cold).
3 tr. sl. a steal; take without permission. b arrest (a person) (pinched him for loitering).
4 (as pinched adj.) (of the features) drawn, as with cold, hunger, worry, etc.
5 a tr. (usu. foll. by in, of, for, etc.) stint (a person). b intr. be niggardly with money, food, etc.
6 tr. (usu. foll. by out, back, down) Hort. remove (leaves, buds, etc.) to encourage bushy growth.
7 intr. sail very close to the wind.
--n.
1 the act or an instance of pinching etc. the flesh.
2 an amount that can be taken up with fingers and thumb (a pinch of snuff).
3 the stress or pain caused by poverty, cold, hunger, etc.
4 sl. a an arrest. b a theft.

Idiom

at (or in) a pinch in an emergency; if necessary. feel the pinch experience the effects of poverty. pinch-hitter US 1 a baseball player who bats instead of another in an emergency.
2 a person acting as a substitute.

Etymology

ME f. AF & ONF pinchier (unrecorded), OF pincier, ult. f. L pungere punct- prick

THESAURUS

Pinch

abstract, ace, acute pain, afflict, agonize, ail, alternate, alternative, and, annex, apprehend, apprehension, approach, appropriate, arrest, arrestation, arrestment, atom, backup, bag, bare cupboard, bare subsistence, beat, beat to windward, beggarliness, beggary, begrudge, bind, bit, bite, boost, boring pain, borrow, breakers ahead, burglary, burn, bust, caper, capture, cardhouse, catch, cause for alarm, center, centralize, chafe, charley horse, clamp, clamping, clamping down, climacteric, close, close in, close up, close with, close-haul, clutch, collar, come together, complication, compress, compression, compulsion, concenter, concentralize, concentrate, confine, constraint, contingency, converge, convergence of events, convulse, cop, counterfeit, cramp, cramps, crib, crick, crisis, critical juncture, critical point, crossroads, crucial period, crucify, crunch, crush, crux, cubby, cubbyhole, cut, dab, danger, dangerous ground, darting pain, defraud, deprivation, destitution, difficulty, dilemma, distress, doghouse, dole, dot, dram, dribble, driblet, drive, dummy, dwarf, economize, embarrassing position, embarrassment, embezzle, emergency, empty purse, endangerment, ensphere, equivalent, ersatz, exact, excruciate, exigency, extort, extremity, fake, fall in with, famish, farthing, fester, filch, fine how-do-you-do, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, fret, fulgurant pain, funnel, gall, gaping chasm, gathering clouds, girdle pain, give pain, gnaw, gnawing, gobbet, gouge, grab, grain, granule, grasp, grate, grind, grinding poverty, grip, gripe, griping, groat, grudge, hair, hand-to-mouth existence, handful, harrow, hazard, heist, hell to pay, high pressure, hinge, hitch, hobble, hole, homelessness, hook, hot water, house of cards, how-do-you-do, hurt, imbroglio, imitation, imperativeness, imperilment, impoverishment, impulse, impulsion, indigence, inflame, inflict pain, intersect, iota, irritate, jam, jeopardy, job, joker, jot, jumping pain, kill by inches, kink, knock off, lacerate, lack, lancinating pain, lift, little, little bit, live upon nothing, luff, luff up, make a pinch, make off with, makeshift, martyr, martyrize, meet, menace, mendicancy, mess, minim, minimum, minutiae, mite, mix, mock, modicum, molecule, moneylessness, morass, mote, nab, narrow the gap, necessitousness, necessity, need, neediness, netting, nick, nip, nutshell, ounce, pain, palm, pang, parlous straits, paroxysm, particle, pass, pauperism, pauperization, pebble, penury, peril, phony, pickle, pickup, pierce, pigeonhole, pilfer, pinch pennies, pittance, playhouse, plight, ply, poach, point, predicament, press, pressure, pretty pass, pretty pickle, pretty predicament, prick, privation, prolong the agony, provisional, proxy, pull in, purloin, push, put to torture, quagmire, quicksand, rack, rankle, rash impulse, rasp, reserve, rip-off, risk, rob, robbery, rocks ahead, rub, run away with, run in, run together, rustle, sail fine, save, scamp, scant, scrape, screw, scrimp, scrounge, scruple, secondary, seizure, shake, sharp pain, shoot, shooting, shooting pain, shoplift, skimp, slough, smidgen, smidgin, smitch, snag, snare, snatch, snitch, soupcon, spare, spasm, speck, spoonful, spot, squeeze, squeezing, stab, stabbing pain, starve, steal, stew, sticky wicket, sting, stint, stitch, stopgap, storm clouds, strait, straits, stress, substitute, swamp, swindle, swipe, tad, take, take into custody, taper, taste, temporary, tension, tentative, theft, thieve, thimbleful, thin ice, threat, thrill, throes, tight spot, tight squeeze, tighten, tightening, tightrope, tiny bit, tittle, tormen, torment, torture, touch, touch the wind, tricky spot, trifling amount, trivia, turn, turning, turning point, tweak, twinge, twist, twitch, unholy mess, unite, urge, urgency, utility, vicarious, wad up, walk off with, want, whit, wound, wrench, wring

ROGET THESAURUS

Pinch

Circumstance

N circumstance, situation, phase, position, posture, attitude, place, point, terms, regime, footing, standing, status, occasion, juncture, conjunctive, contingency, predicament, emergence, emergency, exigency, crisis, pinch, pass, push, occurrence, turning point, bearings, how the land lies, surroundings, context, environment, location, contingency, dependence (uncertainty), causation, attribution, circumstantial, given, conditional, provisional, critical, modal, contingent, incidental, adventitious, limitative, in the circumstances, under the circumstances, the circumstances, conditions, thus, in such wise, accordingly, that being the case, such being the case, in view of the circumstances, that being so, sith, since, seeing that, as matters stand, as things go, as times go, conditionally, provided, if, in case, if so, if so be, if it be so, depending on circumstances, in certain circumstances, under certain conditions, if it so happen, if it so turn out, in the event of, in such a contingency, in such a case, in such an event, provisionally, unless, without, according to circumstances, according to the occasion, as it may happen, as it may turn out, as it may be, as the case may be, as the wind blows, pro re nata, yet are my sins not those of circumstance.

Requirement

N requirement, need, wants, necessities, necessaries, necessaries of life, stress, exigency, pinch, sine qua non, matter of necessity, case of need, case of life or death, needfulness, essentiality, necessity, indispensability, urgency, requisition, run upon, demand, call for, charge, claim, command, injunction, mandate, order, precept, desideratum, want, Adj, required, requisite, needful, necessary, imperative, essential, indispensable, prerequisite, called for, in demand, in request, urgent, exigent, pressing, instant, crying, absorbing, in want of, destitute of, ex necessitate rei, of necessity, there is no time to lose, it cannot be spared, it cannot be dispensed with, mendacem memorem esse oportet, necessitas non habet legem, nec tecum possum trivere nec sine te.

Difficulty

N difficulty, hardness, impracticability, tough work, hard work, uphill work, hard task, Herculean task, Augean task, task of Sisyphus, Sisyphean labor, tough job, teaser, rasper, dead lift, dilemma, embarrassment, deadlock, perplexity, intricacy, entanglement, complexity, cross fire, awkwardness, delicacy, ticklish card to play, knot, Gordian knot, dignus vindice nodus, net, meshes, maze, coil, crooked path, involvement, nice point, delicate point, subtle point, knotty point, vexed question, vexata quaestio, poser, puzzle, paradox, hard nut to crack, nut to crack, bone to pick, crux, pons asinorum, where the shoe pinches, nonplus, quandary, strait, pass, pinch, pretty pass, stress, brunt, critical situation, crisis, trial, rub, emergency, exigency, scramble, scrape, hobble, slough, quagmire, hot water, hornet's nest, sea of troubles, peck of troubles, pretty kettle of fish, pickle, stew, imbroglio, mess, ado, false position, set fast, stand, standstill, deadlock, dead set, fix, horns of a dilemma, cul de sac, hitch, stumbling block, crab, curmudgeon, difficult, not easy, hard, tough, troublesome, toilsome, irksome, operose, laborious, onerous, arduous, Herculean, formidable, sooner said than done, more easily said than done, easier said than done, difficult to deal with, hard to deal with, ill-conditioned, crabbed, crabby, not to be handled with kid gloves, not made with rose water, awkward, unwieldy, unmanageable, intractable, stubborn, perverse, refractory, plaguy, trying, thorny, rugged, knotted, knotty, invious, pathless, trackless, labyrinthine, intricate, complicated, impracticable, not feasible, desperate, embarrassing, perplexing, delicate, ticklish, critical, beset with difficulties, full of difficulties, surrounded by difficulties, entangled by difficulties, encompassed with difficulties, under a difficulty, in a box, in difficulty, in hot water, in the suds, in a cleft stick, in a fix, in the wrong box, in a scrape, in deep water, in a fine pickle, in extremis, between two stools, between Scylla and Charybdis, surrounded by shoals, surrounded by breakers, surrounded by quicksands, at cross purposes, not out of the wood, reduced to straits, hard pressed, sorely pressed, run hard, pinched, put to it, straitened, hard up, hard put to it, hard set, put to one's shifts, puzzled, at a loss, at the end of one's tether, at the end of one's rope, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, at a standstill, graveled, nonplused, nonplussed, stranded, aground, stuck fast, set fast, up a tree, at bay, aux abois, driven into a corner, driven from pillar to post, driven to extremity, driven to one's wit's end, driven to the wall, au bout de son Latin, out of one's depth, thrown out, accomplished with difficulty, hard-fought, hard-earned, with difficulty, with much ado, barely, hardly, uphill, against the stream, against the grain, d rebours, invita Minerva, in the teeth of, at a pinch, upon a pinch, at long odds, against long odds, ay there's the rub, hic labor hoc opus, things are come to a pretty pass, ab inconvenienti, ad astra per aspera, acun chemin de fleurs ne conduit a la gloire.

Parsimony

VB be parsimonious, grudge, begrudge, stint, pinch, gripe, screw, dole out, hold back, withhold, starve, famish, live upon nothing, skin a flint, drive a bargain, drive a hard bargain, cheapen, beat down, stop one hole in a sieve, have an itching palm, grasp, grab.

Painfulness

VB cause pain, occasion pain, give pain, bring pain, induce pain, produce pain, create pain, inflict pain, pain, hurt, wound, pinch, prick, gripe, pierce, lancinate, cut, hurt the feelings, wound the feelings, grate upon the feelings, grate upon the nerves, jar upon the feelings, wring the heart, pierce the heart, lacerate the heart, break the heart, rend the heart, make the heart bleed, tear the heart strings, rend the heart strings, draw tears from the eyes, sadden, make unhappy, plunge into sorrow, grieve, fash, afflict, distress, cut up, cut to the heart, displease, annoy, incommode, discompose, trouble, disquiet, faze, feaze, feeze, disturb, cross, perplex, molest, tease, tire, irk, vex, mortify, wherret, worry, plague, bother, pester, bore, pother, harass, harry, badger, heckle, bait, beset, infest, persecute, importune, wring, harrow, torment, torture, bullyrag, put to the rack, put to the question, break on the wheel, rack, scarify, cruciate, crucify, convulse, agonize, barb the dart, plant a dagger in the breast, plant a thorn in one's side, irritate, provoke, sting, nettle, try the patience, pique, fret, rile, tweak the nose, chafe, gall, sting to the quick, wound to the quick, cut to the quick, aggrieve, affront, enchafe, enrage, ruffle, sour the temper, give offense, maltreat, bite, snap at, assail, smite, sicken, disgust, revolt, nauseate, disenchant, repel, offend, shock, stink in the nostrils, go against the stomach, turn the stomach, make one sick, set the teeth on edge, go against the grain, grate on the ear, stick in one's throat, stick in one's gizzard, rankle, gnaw, corrode, horrify, appal, appall, freeze the blood, make the flesh creep, make the hair stand on end, make the blood curdle, make the blood run cold, make one shudder, haunt the memory, weigh on the heart, prey on the heart, weigh on the mind, prey on the mind, weigh on the spirits, prey on the spirits, bring one's gray hairs with sorrow to the grave, add a nail to one's coffin.

Contraction

VB become small, become smaller, lessen, decrease, grow less, dwindle, shrink, contract, narrow, shrivel, collapse, wither, lose flesh, wizen, fall away, waste, wane, ebb, decay, be smaller than, fall short of, not come up to, render smaller, lessen, diminish, contract, draw in, narrow, coarctate, boil down, constrict, constringe, condense, compress, squeeze, corrugate, crimp, crunch, crush, crumple up, warp, purse up, pack, squeeze, stow, pinch, tighten, strangle, cramp, dwarf, bedwarf, shorten, circumscribe, restrain, (subtraction) 38 abrade, pare, reduce, attenuate, rub down, scrape, file, file down, grind, grind down, chip, shave, shear, wear down.

Physical Pain

VB feel pain, experience pain, suffer pain, undergo pain, suffer, ache, smart, bleed, tingle, shoot, twinge, twitch, lancinate, writhe, wince, make a wry face, sit on thorns, sit on pins and needles, give pain, inflict pain, lacerate, pain, hurt, chafe, sting, bite, gnaw, gripe, pinch, tweak, grate, gall, fret, prick, pierce, wring, convulse, torment, torture, rack, agonize, crucify, cruciate, excruciate, break on the wheel, put to the rack, flog, grate on the ear.

Refrigeration

VB cool, fan, refrigerate, refresh, ice, congeal, freeze, glaciate, benumb, starve, pinch, chill, petrify, chill to the marrow, regelate, nip, cut, pierce, bite, make one's teeth chatter, damp, slack quench, put out, stamp out, extinguish, go out, burn out (incombustibility).