PINCH

apprehension, arrest, catch, collar, pinch, taking into custody

(noun) the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal); “the policeman on the beat got credit for the collar”

pinch, tweak

(noun) a squeeze with the fingers

nip, pinch

(noun) a small sharp bite or snip

emergency, exigency, pinch

(noun) a sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action; “he never knew what to do in an emergency”

touch, hint, tinge, mite, pinch, jot, speck, soupcon

(noun) a slight but appreciable amount; “this dish could use a touch of garlic”

pinch

(noun) an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed

pinch

(noun) a painful or straitened circumstance; “the pinch of the recession”

pinch, vellicate

(verb) 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”

top, pinch

(verb) cut the top off; “top trees and bushes”

pinch, squeeze, twinge, tweet, nip, twitch

(verb) squeeze tightly between the fingers; “He pinched her behind”; “She squeezed the bottle”

crimp, pinch

(verb) make ridges into by pinching together

pilfer, cabbage, purloin, pinch, abstract, snarf, swipe, hook, sneak, filch, nobble, lift

(verb) make off with belongings of others

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

pinch (third-person singular simple present pinches, present participle pinching, simple past and past participle pinched)

To squeeze a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.

To squeeze between the thumb and forefinger.

To squeeze between two objects.

To steal, usually of something almost trivial or inconsequential.

(slang) To arrest or capture.

(horticulture) To cut shoots or buds of a plant in order to shape the plant, or to improve its yield.

(nautical) To sail so close-hauled that the sails begin to flutter.

(hunting) To take hold; to grip, as a dog does.

(obsolete, intransitive) To be stingy or covetous; to live sparingly.

To seize; to grip; to bite; said of animals.

(figurative) To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve.

To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch.

(obsolete) To complain or find fault.

Noun

pinch (plural pinches)

The action of squeezing a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.

A close compression of anything with the fingers.

A small amount of powder or granules, such that the amount could be held between fingertip and thumb tip.

An awkward situation of some kind (especially money or social) which is difficult to escape.

A metal bar used as a lever for lifting weights, rolling wheels, etc.

An organic herbal smoke additive.

(physics) A magnetic compression of an electrically-conducting filament.

The narrow part connecting the two bulbs of an hourglass.

(slang) An arrest.

Source: Wiktionary


Pinch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pinched; p. pr. & vb. n. Pinching.] Etym: [F. pincer, probably fr. OD. pitsen to pinch; akin to G. pfetzen to cut, pinch; perhaps of Celtic origin. Cf. Piece.]

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. o seize; to grip; to bite; -- said of animals. [Obs.] He [the hound] pinched and pulled her down. Chapman.

3. To plait. [Obs.] Full seemly her wimple ipinched was. Chaucer.

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. Sir W. Raleigh.

5. To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch. See Pinch, n., 4.

Pinch, v. i.

1. To act with pressing force; to compress; to squeeze; as, the shoe pinches."

2. (Hunt.)

Definition: To take hold; to grip, as a dog does. [Obs.]

3. To spare; to be niggardly; to be covetous. Gower. The wretch whom avarice bids to pinch and spare. Franklin. To pinch at, to find fault with; to take exception to. [Obs.] Chaucer.

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." Shak.

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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

24 December 2024

INTUITIVELY

(adverb) in an intuitive manner; “inventors seem to have chosen intuitively a combination of explosive and aggressive sounds as warning signals to be used on automobiles”


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