pinching (comparative more pinching, superlative most pinching)
That pinches, or causes such a sensation
pinching
present participle of pinch
pinching (plural pinchings)
The act of one who or that which pinches.
(gardening) The act of pinching off new growth.
Source: Wiktionary
Pinch"ing, a.
Definition: Compressing; nipping; griping; niggardly; as, pinching cold; a pinching parsimony. Pinching bar, a pinch bar. See Pinch, n., 4.
– Pinching nut, a check nut. See under Check, n.
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
26 November 2024
(noun) (music) playing in a different key from the key intended; moving the pitch of a piece of music upwards or downwards
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.
