Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pinch"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pinch \Pinch\, v. t.
To seize by way of theft; to steal; also, to catch; to
arrest. [Slang] --Robert Barr.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pinch \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. --Gower.
The wretch whom avarice bids to pinch and spare.
--Franklin.
{To pinch at}, to find fault with; to take exception to.
[Obs.] --Chaucer.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pinch \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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pinch \Pinch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pinched}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Pinching}.] [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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
pinch
n 1: a painful or straitened circumstance: "the pinch of the
recession"
2: an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed
3: a small but appreciable amount; "this dish could use a touch
of garlic" [syn: {touch}, {hint}, {mite}, {jot}, {speck},
{soupcon}]
4: a sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that
requires immediate action; "he never knew what to do in an
emergency" [syn: {emergency}, {exigency}]
5: small sharp biting [syn: {nip}]
6: a squeeze with the fingers [syn: {tweak}]
7: the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a
criminal); "the policeman on the beat got credit for the
collar" [syn: {apprehension}, {arrest}, {catch}, {collar},
{taking into custody}]
v 1: squeeze tightly between the fingers; "He pinched her
behind"; "She squeezed the bottle" [syn: {vellicate}, {squeeze},
{twinge}, {tweet}, {nip}, {twitch}]
2: make ridges into by pinching together [syn: {crimp}]
3: make off with belongings of others [syn: {pilfer}, {cabbage},
{purloin}, {abstract}, {snarf}, {swipe}, {hook}, {sneak},
{filch}, {nobble}, {lift}]
4: cut the top off; "top trees and bushes" [syn: {top}]
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